Destiny's Play
by Ashia21
Summary: Does it count as going against fate if fate itself was the one that brought you there to change it? Is living such a life better than returning to the gate of the afterlife? "Of course, why wouldn't it?" Let's see how this play goes when the Joker barges in. OC fic, no pairings yet. Rated T for cussing, and the usual Magi horrors.
1. When a life ends

**Hello People of the Magi universe! I'm new here, but I've always wanted to make a fanfic about Magi! It's a shame that there aren't a lot of stories out there, I could guess because it was hard to weave a story between the original story, since it's so compact. I decided to do an OC fanfic because A.) I had never done and OC story before, and wanted to broaden my skill B.) I got the inspiration from one of the most reviewed stories here called **_**Enigma, **_**and C.) I had the idea in the back of my mind for too long, it's preventing me from writing the chapters of my other fanfics. I mean, reviving fanfics isn't as easy as you think, you know?  
><strong>

**I doubt this will get reviews immediately, but I hope to see reviews once I add more chapters.**

**Oh, and the OC? Ain't based on anyone, okay? Don't go thinking it's me, this is not a Self-Insert.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Original characters of Magi or the setting, just my OC.**

* * *

><p>Destiny's Play<p>

Chapter 1:

When a life ends

_Who am i?_

* * *

><p>So I died<p>

Yeah

No really, it's scarier than how I'm telling it. It _hurts like hell_

Let me rewind my tale to the end

My name is Leia; I'm a newly graduated student under the college of Medicine who quickly found a job as a pharmacist due to my high grades, though I aim to become a doctor once I start on my mastery. Despite my profession, I was pretty childish when I don't have to be an adult, and wasted those rare times reading manga and watching anime like the proud closet otaku I was. I had a relatively normal, if not poor, household including an older sister, a younger brother, my parents, aunt, and cousin. Since my sister was busy with her own life, I tend to be the one that my mother relies on when it came to financial support. I rarely had time for me, but I really can't say that I regretted much.

So when I died, I found out that I regretted _a lot_

It was the end of the day; I was tasked to close the shop by my boss since the one who was supposed to close it tonight called sick. It was late night and I wanted to get back home as fast as possible, getting a cab was _hell _at these hours here and I never felt fine being away from home too long, away from people I trust and felt familiar with. Paranoid, yes, but I heard enough stories about rape and hold ups on these dark nights to paint that image in my head. So I was in such a hurry to lock the door that I didn't realize that I wasn't the only person on the street anymore.

I only noticed when I felt a gun being pointed at me

_Fuck_

"Unlock the door," The thief, a man, probably in the twenties or older from what my panicking mind could tell, said as he shoved the muzzle harder on the back of my head, I gulped as I fiddled with the keys in my hands in panic, doing what he ordered me to do.

_Fuck!_

The man pushed me inside and tied my hands with rope, only then did he turn his head to get numerous medicines stacked on top of the shelves in an orderly fashion into a large sack, not caring which one he was getting. In the back of my mind, I noticed the worn out and desperate light in his eyes and realized that he may actually have someone he cared for who needed it.

Not that I cared at the moment, I just wanted to get out.

I fiddled with the rope binding my wrists, they were surprisingly loose, the guy didn't have any experience with binding people yet, that's good. I carefully undid the knot without letting the man know. Once it was done, I slowly took the phone in my pocket, I have to run, but I have to tell my Boss first, I don't want the consequences of me leaving the shop with a thief inside to bite me on the butt when this is all over.

"_Thief, call 911!" _I texted and sent to my boss, and when I noticed the thief going inside our storage rooms, I leaped into action and opened the hidden compartment under the cash register and took out my Boss' tranquilizer gun. Apparently, it wasn't the first time thieves would try to rob us, since we were placed smack middle of the slums, so Boss would keep a tranquilizer gun to subdue them, he even taught us how to use it and where to get it in case we end up in a desperate situation.

Like this one.

I held the gun in my left hand as I crept into the room, my heart beating fast and my mind telling me to _stop being a fucking Idiot and run already! _

Yeah, my flight or fight is a bit cuckoo cause of my paranoia

I heard shuffling in one of the rooms and peeked inside, finding the man shoving everything in. Okay Leia, you can do this, you won't die, and you won't kill, just shoot the guy with the tranquilizer and _ohmygod he's turning around!_

I shot in fright, barely hitting the man's neck. Yes! A hit! I saw the man slump slowly to the ground as my worries evaporated and made way to pride a relief. God! It's over! I did it! Now I can go ho-

A gunshot was heard, followed by an intense pain. I looked down to where the pain was, and realized that it was coming from the bleeding hole in my chest, I looked up and saw the man holding his gun, pointed at my chest, before slumping completely and falling unconscious.

God…no

_God, nonononononono!_

_I'm dying! _

_I'M DYING!_

All coherent thought left me and I slumped to the ground, crying in pain as the bleeding continued, why didn't I run?! I'm so stupid! Now I'm going to die! _I'm going to die! _It hit me.

I'm going to die before I could see my brother graduate

I'm going to die before I see my sister get married

I'm going to die before we could go abroad like I promised

I'm going to die before I could get home

No…

I don't want to die.

God...help

But in the end, everything was enveloped in darkness

* * *

><p><em>I remember seeing darkness, I remember feeling emptiness, like whatever feelings I had been useless, unneeded, even though they weren't. I couldn't even feel scared, I was just…there. <em>

_Than…slowly, I saw a small glowing bird flutter past me, I reached out to it, not wondering why I couldn't see my hand, or where the bird like creature came from, and followed it through the black void._

_Then more appeared, then more, until a path of white birds was made, I followed the path to a white light._

_…what is this…? It feels…so warm…_

Then it vanished

…Huh…?

I was scared, what happened to the light? What happened to me? I felt myself being enclosed into a tight space; my hysteria was acting up again, which I felt relieved since it meant I could feel again. What's happening?! I suddenly felt so sluggish, what did they do to me? I wriggled and kicked, but I couldn't seem to do anything.

I couldn't do anything but sleep.

After who knew how long, I started hearing voices, muddled and unclear, but they sounded familiar, what's happening out there? Why are they keeping me in here? I tried screaming, but it was no use, I couldn't speak. The only solace I had were those mysterious white birds that led me to this situation, I really want to hate them, but for some reason, I can't. They were the only things keeping my sanity from cracking completely, and I couldn't stop myself from being grateful.

Now that I think about it, they look familiar…I remember seeing them somewhere, but where?

I was eventually let out, but not in the way I expected…

First, the bird like things started fluttering around me, like it was protecting me or something; I then felt my body being _squeezed _through something, and something in my belly button being cut off, before being handed to a pair of warm arms. I would have been hysterical at the moment, I mean _I just felt a body part being removed _but I didn't, because something in the back of my mind recounted the events that happened in horror.

_Squeezes, part cut off, __**being small enough to be handed to someone.**_

God, i would have never graduated from college if I didn't recognize the procedure of _childbirth _

And _I'm_ the _child _

_What. The. Hell. Happened?!_

* * *

><p>Okay, deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Inhal- <em>Oh fucking dammit! I give up! Infants can't even breath properly yet! Gaaaah!<em>

I did not take being reborn lightly

Okay, Leia, think, you're capable of that, right? (Although it should be impossible for a baby whose brain is still developing to have this much memory stored already, I will get to the bottom of that one day) what happened? Okay, I was closing the shop cause boss told me to, and then-

_I died_

…well that was a bombshell.

God, what would my parents do if they find out? Dad's going to get a stroke again and mom might go in depression. Who would pay for my brother's tuition fee?! Who would be there if dad gets stroked a fourth time?! Gah, this was _not _the time to die!

Where am I anyways? Everything seems so…ancient Chinese…even the place I was born didn't even have surgical tools, just knives and such. Even the clothes everyone wore looked too natural to have any form of polyester in it. What's more, those weird bird-like things were _everywhere. _

_It's like I'm in another world_

Can that really happen? Am I really in another world? Well, if reincarnation is possible, why not different worlds? No use closing my mind when I'm living proof that there is more to the world that meets the eye. Well…huh. I still can't accept the fact that I just left my world and life.

But in reality, it's really hard not to. The student in me was just _wowed _by the idea that I was in a new world, everything looked so new to me. If I wasn't a baby and was constantly locked between my new mother's arms, I would have learned to walk and started my journey through this magnificent world, one toddle at a time.

Even though the arms cradling me wasn't the mother that gave birth to me

For all my hysteria (Really, my high school friends used to call me hyste-Leia cause I got hysterical easily, could you imagine how embarrassing that was?!) I had enough tact to see the face of the woman who gave birth to me. From what I could tell, she had really black hair which landed on her shoulders, two hair buns were on both sides of her head, the hair was all messed up because of what she had to go through just a few seconds ago, but I had to admit she was beautiful.

But what got me were her eyes, they were so _motherly. _They almost reminded me of my mother's eyes, if it weren't for the fact that they were _really red, _like _ruby red_. They were so enchanting that I almost missed the tears starting to damp her eyes and the hint of sadness growing larger by the second. This caused my momentary hysteria to quell as she looked at me and gently cradled me in her arms, whispering sadly to me.

"Shirin," She whispered to herself as she looked at me, the tears beginning to fall "My wonderful Shirin…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," She started crying as she hugged me tighter, I would have thought of how dangerous it was to do that to a newly born child, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything but look at her.

What's happening now?

I saw a man and a woman come forward, the woman said something I couldn't hear due to the wailing of my mother, but when the man came towards us and placed his hand on her shoulder, my new mother looked up, panic clearly shown in her body language as the white birds surrounding us fluttered haphazardly.

I understood everything after that.

"Please! Let me keep her!" She cried as she stared at the man "My husband will never know! Please, don't make me abandon her!" But the man, a tall black haired man with red eyes, though not as red as the one cradling me, shook his head sadly "And if he does find out? How do you think he would feel if he found out that you accidentally gave birth to the child of his friend while he was at war? He will surely be heartbroken, and neither of us wants that," My eyes widened, no…don't tell me…

I'm a love child?! An _accidental_ love child?!

Before the thought could sink in, I was gently pulled away from my mother's embrace and into the arms of the other woman, she looked at me with a smile, but it did not reach her eyes.

That woman is the person holding me right now

I can tell she doesn't like me, she never lets me outside unless my father suggested to her, she would only smile at me when we weren't alone, then she would start frowning and cursing slightly at me for being "proof of my husband's unfaithfulness" of "dirty blood" or sometimes even "child of a whore"

Nope. I don't like her either. Not. One. Bit.

* * *

><p>Around a whole year had passed since I was reborn in this place, and I still have no idea where I am.<p>

It doesn't help that that _sorry excuse of a replacement mother _never bothered to teach me anything. And my new father is always working; I never even got a chance to see my real mother again. It was boring, the only thing I could do was get my game up and re-learn how to do things I could do unconsciously in my previous life.

No really, that was the only thing I could do, aside from play with the bird like things at least.

Really, what are these things? Whenever I saw the things swirl around father and the woman, they never seemed to notice it.

As if they couldn't see it.

I frowned, I have this nudging feeling in the back of my head that told me that I knew what these are, but for the hell of me, I couldn't piece the puzzle pieces together. I was taught not to jump to conclusions in college, but since I only had myself and the people I lived with, I couldn't even think of a hypothesis!

That was before I met the village witch doctor

Confused? Well it all started with my refusal to speak my first word in front of the adults. I could already speak to an extent due to my constant practicing (Let me tell you, it's _hard, _god, I didn't realize how hard it must have been for infants to say their first word) but I only practiced when I'm actually alone, I never made a sound in front of any off them because 1. The woman hated hearing me gurgle, and 2. I'm almost always with said woman.

As much as I hated her, I hate making unnecessary enemies

My father grew worried about my lack of sound and took me to the village witch doctor, if it wasn't for the pang of guilt I got from making maybe the only person that cared for me feel worried over nothing; I would have taken more notice at my surroundings. This was the first time in a while that I saw the sky and also the first time I was brought so far from my house. I did, however took note of the old eastern styled buildings and a particular crest that seems to appear _everywhere _in this small town_. _I'm not quite sure what it meant, but that nudge in the back of my head just grew.

Where have I seen that Chinese sign before?

My thoughts however were halted when we arrived at the house of the witch doctor, I heard father tell the old man about how I should be able to speak now, but I couldn't, as he gave me worried glances. But what the elder only took me from his arms and looked at me, a smile wrinkling his aging face.

"Now what do we have here? You are quite an odd little girl, aren't you?" I blinked in confusion, what is he doing? Does he think he can coax me into speaking? But my guesses were wrong when I realized he was looking at something around me.

_The white birds_

"Do not worry, boy," The elder said as he handed me back to my confused father "It is merely not her time to speak to you yet, there is nothing wrong with her, in fact, I expect her to do great things in her life" he looked back at me with a smile

"After all, this child is loved by the Rukh,"

…

…

…

…what? D-did he just say what I think he said?!

N-no way! No matter how much it makes sense, it's impossible! Why?! Because Rukh…Because Rukh…

_Because Rukh like these were from a manga_

Not just any manga, but _Magi. _As in the world of blue giants, king vessels, unadulterated truths, and political warfare

It all made sense now, the white birds, why people couldn't see them, that strange Chinese symbol I saw while passing through here-

_Oh God _I just realized something, where I saw that symbol

It was the symbol of the _freaking Kou Empire_

_I was reborn into the Magi world in the Kou Empire_

Wahhh…what did I do to deserve this?

* * *

><p>Oh, but that wasn't the end of it <em>oh hell no. <em>

It was only the beginning of this weird role fate had given me.

A month after our visit to the Witch Doctor (And a month after I had sorrowfully admitted that I was in a very dangerous world, dammit) my father, for the first time since the incident, took me with him outside. I guess the event caused his parental side to kick in and started having more time with me. I was ecstatic about this, and had rewarded his change with the first words I said to him like the awesome person I am.

"Papa!"

And no, I didn't think he was a bear hugger until it really happened

But anyways, this was still the first time in the month that he brought me outside, I was really excited, where was he going to take me? Oh! I hope he buys me a book! The books at home suck! I don't even care about how that she devil had to come with us!

But that wasn't, instead of going to a store, me, the woman, and my Father went to a house that looked eerily familiar. Only when Father knocked and the door was opened by a handsome male with black hair which was tied to a long braid did I realize where we were.

...This was the house I was born in, my mother's house...

Gah, drama

The man who opened the door, I'm guessing was my mother's true husband, smiled happily at the sight of his friend, my father.

"You came!" The man said "Come in! Come in! It's been so long since you visited!" He said in a friendly manner, his long braid swishing around dangerously as he motioned us inside, the Rukh around him fluttering at his genuine happiness. I smiled slightly, this man has such white rukh, and from what I remember from the manga, that meant that he was a good person.

I suddenly understood why my parents didn't want to hurt him

I gave a yelp when he suddenly turned and squatted right in front of me, before giving me a bright smile.

"Now who's this little rabbit?" He asked playfully, I heard father chuckle "That's Shirin, she's my daughter," I looked back at the man, who looked surprise for some reason, before looking up at my father, still squatted in front of me "Eh? But she looks about a year old! Why didn't you tell me?" The man said playfully, through a hint of hurt was seen in his eyes.

Oh, I guess the reason why I was hidden was also because he easily gets gloomy

"Hah, sorry," Father said, crouching down to ruffle both of our heads ("Hey! Don't mess with the hair!" The man said) "Shirin here was born with a weak body, so we couldn't really let you come in the house or take her out," I blinked, was he…lying? "When I had the chance, I took her to the witch doctor, who was able to heal her,"

Wow, if I didn't know better, I would have believed him too

Dad's a good liar

After that my Father started chatting with the man, and a nudge started appearing in the back of my head again as I stared at his face, it looked…familiar, like I've seen it somewhere…

But where? It couldn't be in this current life, I was rarely let out! But I don't remember such a low standing person like him being seen in the manga.

But that _face_

Then it hit me

Oh

OH

That hair! That braid! I only saw the actual guy in a few flashbacks, but that face was un-disguisable! This guy!

This guy was the father of Judar! Hah! I think I got it for once! And it didn't take me whole year too! Woooh!

…wait

…If this guy is Judar's _father, _and the woman who actually gave birth to me was his _legal wife, _then doesn't that mean…?

…

No

Nooooo! The hell?! Why?! How did i-?! HOW DID I-?!

"Dear? Are those visitors?" I heard the familiar voice of the woman who was supposed to be my mother in this world. But I was too preoccupied by the baby she was carrying in her arms to notice the shocked expression she got at seeing me.

I know, it's a bit unfeeling of me to just ignore her but the _baby!_

The Rukh surrounding the child was like a hurricane of white birds, just like mine are, but no one in this room aside from me and the boy in my mother's arms knew of this connection.

Even when the baby looked at me and tried to reach out with his little stubby arms towards the girl that was surrounded by so many white birds, I was still frozen in shock.

My name is Leia, now Sharin, and I don't know _how, _I don't _why. _But fate decided that I should play a part in her play

_As the freaking half-sister of Judar, the black magi._

What did I do to deserve this?

* * *

><p><strong>Done! I hope I didn't make it too…short? Oh well, I hope to make it longer in the next chapter.<strong>

**Bet no one was expecting her to be Judar's half-sister, then again, you can expect almost anything when it comes to OC stories. To those who would ask, NO, i'm not planning on Shirin being a hero and preventing Judar from being kidnaped, it just isn't done. To those who were confused about how things ended up the way it did, here's a summary of the love child incident.**

**So in this story, Judar's dad had been away from home for several years now, and his mother was feeling left out or discarded. Sharin's dad, also known as Judar's dad's friend) often drank with her to ease their worries about Judar's dad, but one night they drank too much and…well you get the picture. Neither of them wanted Judar's dad to think that they were backstabbing him, so they kept Shirin as a secret. When she was born, she was taken in by Shirin's father and wife, telling the people that Shirin was their child, when in reality, she was a love child.**

…**Now about the name Shirin, so to not change the groove of the manga, I named her after a character from **_**One thousand and one nights**_**. **

**Welll…yeah, that's all I remembered wanting to say…so…**

**Please Read and Review!**


	2. You don't always get to choose

**Hello Fanfiction readers! To those who saw the original one, sorry i took it out, i wasn't satisfied with it...well it don't really have mush o say really. So I'll get on with the story.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer:I don't own any character or place here that was said in the anime or manga, i do however, own my OC's.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

><p>Destiny's Play<p>

Chapter 2:

You don't always get to choose

_Why am I here?_

* * *

><p><em>Gurgle<em> "Na,"

_Gurgle!_ "Na,"

_Whine_ "Aaaa! You win!"

"haha!" I grumble with a small smile I toddled towards the giggling infant in the basket and lifted him off by a few inches with all the baby muscle I was able to cultivate in the span of one year, meaning none.

Judar squealed happily as he immediately tried to grab the tips of my hair, I have no idea what's so fascinating about my hair really, maybe he thinks it's food or something, that would explain why he tried putting it in his mouth. I heard a more mature giggle from behind me and turned to see my mother, my birth mother, looking at the scene before her with such happy eyes. Ever since they introduced me to Judar's family (and my half family) the woman would come by and make my mother babysit me.

_(…that sounds like it should be in reverse…)_

Not that my mother disagrees with it, in fact, the first time the woman did so, my mother pretty much cried in joy in front of us and squished the woman in a bear hug of gratitude. I didn't deny the giggling when I saw the shocked face of the woman; she obviously didn't like the physical contact. Not that my birth mother cared about that fact anyways.

Let me tell you, compared to my solitary days in that woman's arms, my time in Judar's home was like a whole new world. My mother would dot and me and teach me a few things like a real mother would do, though she was always careful because of what father said about me having health issues (Okay 1. He was lying then, and 2. As a pharmacist in my past life, I feel insulted), one time, she fussed about me when I got a bit dirty outside and washed me thoroughly, I'm not even going to talk about the embarrassment of having someone bathe you anymore.

I guess she was just really happy to be able to take care of her daughter.

Judar was…well he's actually pretty cute as a baby. He's all bright and bubbly and just so adorable! _Kyaaa! Fangirling!_ Really he's that cute! I couldn't resist! On the times when mother goes and rest for a moment, or during nap time, I would cuddle the black haired infant softly and play with his hair (he didn't have much hair yet, but even now, it was surprisingly soft and fluffy) and more often than not, I would sing a certain lullaby I remembered, he really likes it when I sing for him.

It doesn't help that he also seems to like me since he would always try to reach out for me with his doll sized hands whenever my _Rukh_ comes into his vision, and I have a wide spread of Rukh.

Speaking of which…why _is_ there so much Rukh around me?

Am I a magician? That would be cool, but even magicians aren't as loved by Rukh as I am, and I'm defiantly not a magi, no, I refuse to even ponder the notion, the chances of that is close to none. Magi are the reincarnated souls of previous magi, and from what I can tell, my life on earth wasn't that of a powerful magician loved by bird-like things called Rukh.

But then what am i? What am I doing here? Why am I loved by the Rukh? Is there any other person aside from the Magi (Magis? Magus? Eh?) Who aren't magicians but are equally loved by the Rukh?

…wait…there is one…

_Sinbad_

Right, Sinbad was a first class singularity when he was born, loved by the Rukh despite not being a Magi, he unconsciously uses it to, apparently, read the lines of the future.

Am I similar to him in that sense?

….no, I don't think so, I don't know why, but I get the feeling that the reasons as to why we were loved by the Rukh are different….

_*Sigh*_ let's look at the facts here. I can see the Rukh, something normal people cannot do, but for some reason, i just can't see myself as a magician. Maybe I'm subconsciously giving an answer to my question, or maybe i just knew deep inside that it was impossible. Neither my mom nor dad could see Rukh, so they weren't magicians, meaning the chances of me being a magician is really low…

I frowned at that, pity. Being a magician sounded cool, I could have studied in Magnostadt and became a decent magician. That place was the only one i knew that had an Academy too. I must be crazy, but i guess i just wanted to become student again, it's just so tiring being an adult and all, especially when you're a child again.

_Shame_

_Giggle!_

"?" I blinked when i heard the innocent giggles of my baby brother. I looked up at the smiling face of the infant boy only to find a single Rukh that was not my own resting on my now tiny forehead; Judar must have placed it there while I was brooding.

Hah…only a year old and I'm already brooding. Go me.

I noticed after I got over the shock of being Judar's half-sister that Judar was really interested in my Rukh for some reason; I think it was because I was the only one aside from him that had so much Rukh, he doesn't get the fact that I'm an anomaly. He would often play with both of our Rukh as a form of entertainment when I mull over things like right now. Sigh, kids these days, playing with other's Rukh without permission.

_Wait, I'm a kid…fail._

I wriggled my nose in discomfort, what? Rukh feels surprisingly similar to bugs when they land on you like this, plus, I can't even see the little thing. I was about to get it off by shaking my head when-

W-Wha-?!

It sank into my skin

What the-?! What happened?! Was that supposed to happen?! Why did that happen?!

_*Headache*_

_Aghhhh, curse you! One year old mind!_

I whined for a while as I clutched my tiny head _(Stupid under developed brain, Stupid confusing Rukh, Stupid talking to myself in baby talk!)_ until I realized that something was missing. I looked up at the Rukh fluttering above the two of us innocently, and gasped slightly.

_I can't tell which ones are mine_

I noticed that, different from the other elements of nature, each human had a unique Rukh signature, kinda like auras back on earth; I noticed when I met the witch doctor. He had a weak, yet wise, aura. Different from father's confusing aura and that woman's powerful (but not as powerful as Judar's) aura.

_But I can't tell which ones are mine_

I turned slightly to check on mother, sure enough, I was able to identify its warm nature just like before. So my sensory hasn't disappeared.

_So why can't I tell which ones are mine?_

Why can't I see the difference between me and Judar's Rukh anymore?

I looked back at the baby, who was completely unaware of my pondering and started to pull my hair again, obviously bored from my quiet contemplation. Did it have something to do with that Rukh he placed on my forehead? What did he do? It almost seemed like he merged…our Rukh…together…

...

...

…

...T-The hell, that's what he did, didn't he?

N-No! is that even possible? I've never heard of anything like that happening.

Is that what he did? Did he…did he merge our Rukh together? But how!? And why!? Is it even possible for two people's Rukh to merge together? I would have understood it a little bit more if we were twins, since there was a higher possibility for that happening, but me and Judar aren't even _full siblings_! It doesn't make sense! I haven't heard anything about something similar happening in the manga! The nearest similarity would be Alibaba and Kassim's magoi merging. But by then, Kassim had already died, so it was, in a harsh sense, just unused Rukh for Alibaba.

So how was this possible?!

_Leave it to a magi to do something like this._

I paused when the thought came to me, ignoring the baby that was trying to pull my hair again to get my attention, already making whining noises. Right, this kid here…this kid here would be captured by that group and would fall into depravity, he's a magi.

I can honestly say that I had forgotten that fact in the few weeks I had been with him. It was just that, the baby in front of me was just so _pure _and _depravity-free_ that I forgot the fact that he had a part to play in the future, that a drastic change would cause him to grow up under their watchful gaze.

_The destruction of the village_

_And the death of everyone in it_

* * *

><p>"Sakaya! I'm here to bring Shirin home!"<p>

_Everyone is going to die_

"Ah! Ziang! Where's Yui? I thought she would pick Shirin up?"

_Everyone is going to die_

"Yui is busy in the library, I think she missed going there; too bad they didn't allow children there,"

**_And there's nothing I can do about it_**

"Shirin! Daddy's here for- Shirin?!"

I felt a pair of gentle arms wrap around me as if it could stop my shivers _–huh? When did I start shivering? -_ As masculine hands started wiping away the tears on my face delicately _–when did I start crying? -_ All the while, I heard the soothing voice of a mother try to calm me down. But instead of her voice, I could only think of the voice of my _real _mother, and the hands of my _real _father.

_You're not my mom_

"Shhh, it's okay, it's okay, see? Your daddy is here for you,"

_He's not my dad_

"What's wrong, sweetie? Come one, daddy's here for you,"

_You two are gonna die anyways_

_You won't be there for me_

"It's gonna be fine, nothing's going to happen to you,"

_Lies_

_I'm gonna die_

_I'm gonna die alongside you if I don't do something_

**_But what can I do?_**

**_I'm going to die again_**

"I'll take her home now; maybe Yui will know something,"

"O-okay," I felt a pair of lips land lightly on my cheek "See you tomorrow, sunshine," I felt a pair of arms lift me gently off the ground and into his warm arms, my father, with his braided black hair and red eyes, gave me a calming smile as he said goodbye to my mother and younger half-brother, who I could vaguely tell was crying as he tried to reach out for me again.

"Shh, it's okay, my little Ju-Ju," I heard my mother say as she tried to calm the upset Judar "She'll come back tomorrow, don't worry,"

_Until when?_

_How long do I have until they find Judar?_

_How long do I have until I get killed along with everyone else?_

I felt my father walk out of the house, going through a few streets before entering another familiar house. In there, the woman who I hated was reading a large and worn out scroll. Because of my hysteria, I didn't notice that the text in the scroll was in a language I didn't know of, which is odd since there should only be one common language in this world.

"Yui? Are you here? Could you help me with Shirin?"

_I don't want to die again_

"Hmm? What's wrong this time?" I felt more feminine arms lift me off my fathers, I found myself face to face with the woman. Her black hair was messy as always, reaching her shoulders before being tied with a cloth bun, her amber eyes were sharp as always, staring at me as if she could see what others couldn't, on her right ear was a familiar earring that she would always wear, I remember seeing a similar earring on mother's left ear. As always, her features were blank, neither caring nor hateful, I have no idea how long we were like that, just staring at each other until…

_*whack!*_

"Y-Yui?!"

She flicked me!

She flicked me on the freakin' forehead! And it hurts! _Like hell!_

"There, she stopped," I heard the woman say as she lowered her hand, a metallic pointed thimble covering her index finger, ah! That must be the reason why it hurts like hell! I glared at the woman as I clutched my aching forehead, it must have been a cute sight, since my father laughed slightly.

"Haha, you shouldn't use something like that on kids, Yui, what if something went wrong?" He asked, and I paused for a moment because of his unclear sentence.

"Nope, I did not hear you question my abilities," She said "She's calm and quiet now, isn't she? Don't be such a protective father, no one ever like those types," I pouted at her easygoing personality, before realizing something. I was calmer; it wasn't just from shock either, I actually felt a lot calmer than before, like I can overcome my ordeals if I sit back and think for a second, I looked up and blinked at the woman, who was still holding me as my father offered to set up dinner.

…what did she do…?

"Going all loco won't do you any good, brat," I blinked and looked up at her again "Calm that head of yours, you hysterical little child, and maybe you can actually do something useful for once," I pouted at her harsh words, but felt an inkling of warmth seep into my heart at her words.

Right, if I just calm down for a second, maybe I can think of something

Right! I can't give up now! I don't want to die again and all!

Due to my self-encouragement, I didn't notice the smile grazing the woman's lips as she looked at me.

Maybe there's hope yet.

* * *

><p>An entire week had passed since that day<p>

_And I still have no fucking idea what I should do_

Judar started pulling my hair again, and I turned to the infant child that was annoyingly asking for my attention. He's cute and all, but seriously, the amount of attention he wants from me is just _weird. _I wonder why he's so attached to me. I only started being with him a few months ago, and I've never seen him do the same for mom or his dad. Is it really just because of my Rukh?

_…but I don't want to be involved with this…_

I turned around to see mother, Sakaya, sleeping in her futon. I found out that she herself was surprisingly sickly at times due to some incident that happened when she was young. That's why she was rarely seen outside the house, but when she was out, she would always be accompanied by either Judar's dads, Lee, my dad, Ziang, or sometimes, Yui. I guess that's why she believed dad's story about me having a weak body.

_She doesn't stand a chance against Al Themen_

_No one here does_

I absent mindedly fiddled with Judar's hair, ignoring the whining face of the child as he tried to get my attention again. It only came in flashes in the anime, but no doubt they were able kill _everyone _in the village, or else a survivor could have escaped and told the rest of the world about what happened, putting the organization in jeopardy.

But what can I do? Even if I wasn't a one year old at the moment, I couldn't just _tell _everyone, thinking they would believe me, that _never_ works out in the end. Even if I take Judar away from the village, I could only go as far as my still toddling feat can carry me, plus, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't stop them from killing everyone here just to search for him. I can't go far anyways; this village is probably smack middle of the Kou Empire, which could be the reason why I don't see ships or foreigners around. The nearest territory would be the land of the Kouga tribe, and that's like, what? How many hours in horseback?

As long as I'm in the Kou Empire, I'm under Al Themen

_I can't escape_

_Yawn_

I blinked for a second before turning towards the baby, seems like he tuckered himself out from all the pulling and trying to get my attention. Now I feel guilty, he's just a kid, and I'm ignoring him.

_Sigh_

The life of a big sister is hard

"Lullaby?" I offered to the baby, I wasn't quite really sure if he could understand me, since he's just an infant, but it became a habit for me in both lives to speak to kids like they could understand me, it was a weird habit that always put an unsure smile on the nurses when they see me having a conversation with a baby.

(No one will _ever_ know that I did _that _on purpose just to see their reactions)

"Ga!" I chuckled when I saw the oh so adorable smile of the baby light up, I guess he was smart enough to realize that, whenever I said 'Lullaby', I would sing to him. I only ever sang to him when we were alone, cause it was _way _too embarrassing for me to sing it while other people were there, Judar was probably the only person who heard me sing it.

I picked him up from his cradle, a little woven basket, and quickly placed him on my lap before my hand would give way from being too flimsy to carry a baby. Stroking his hair for a while as the child stopped pulling my hair; I began to sing a familiar song to him.

_"Lacrimosa dies illa,"_

_"Qua resurget ex favilla,"_

_"Judicandus homo reus,"_

_"Huic ergo parce Deus,"_

_"Pie Jesu Domine,"_

How odd, of all the lullabies my mother would sing for me, why did I sing this song to Judar? It was from an anime I watched long ago, but it never ceased to calm me, I could never seem to get it of my head. I even used it during my Latin classes in collage to cool me down.

And it still does

_"Judicandus homo reus,"_

_"Hui ergo parce Deus,"_

_"Pie Jesu Domine,"_

At the last parts of the lullaby, I looked down at the sleeping infant on my lap, the pure white Rukh around us fluttering almost softly, as if calmed by the song as well. I lifted him up and, gently so to not wake him, placed him back in his basket. I took the moment to see his sleeping face, the Rukh so white it was almost blinding.

Will he ever make that face if they take him?

Will he ever sleep peacefully again if he falls to depravity?

I…

I…I don't want that to happen to him

It's only been a few months, but he's my brother now. I…I can't bear the thought of him being taken away and manipulated like some puppet in a play. I-I have to do something, anything! as long as my family is safe. I don't- I don't want them to die.

_I don't want them to die_

_Something…I have to think of something!_

"Oi! I'm here to pick up the bra - ah! I mean - Shirin!" My train of thought derailed when I heard that annoyingly familiar voice appear as the sliding doors swung open, startling both mom and Judar awake. Gah! My ears! Judar, _stap crying! STAP!_

"Oops," Yui said blandly "Did I interrupt nap time again? Sorry," I saw mom stumble out of her futon in embarrassment as she took the wailing Judar and calmed him down, before pouting at Yui "Your late, Yui, you were supposed to pick up Shirin four hours ago," Funny thing about time, since this was an era were the clock was yet to be made, people used sun dials or candles to tell the time, our house, the one me and Yui live in, however, was one of the few that used a magical tool to tell time. I wonder how we got that tool…

"Uh-huh, yeah, sorry bout' that," The woman said offhandedly "I got a bit engrossed in the library again, the Toran scriptures the witch doctor owns are worth a few hours," My head shot up at the sentence, Yui could read Toran?

"Come one, brat, it's getting late," I felt myself being picked up by familiar arms; I looked at my mother, Sakaya, who looked at me with sad eyes as she cradled Judar's petite body.

"See you tomorrow, Shirin!" She said with a smile as the baby magi's crying decreased to whimpers. From the woman's arms, I waved back happily. Yui gave a loud hum when Sakaya waved goodbye to her. And we left the tiny home.

I blinked when we exited the house; the streets were dark and the moon, full and impending, was high in the sky, surrounded by a crown of stars. The old Chinese streets were empty and everyone was inside now. Wow, it really is dark out.

"…Hah, something doesn't feel right," The woman, Yui, said to herself after a while of walking, and I looked up at her in confusion as she started to walk faster. I looked around the empty streets, I'm rarely up to see the streets like this, but I really can't find anything stra-

_Wait_

_Where's the Rukh?_

My eyes widened when I realized what was missing, right, even at night, the Rukh had always been there, since there were usually insects or animals lurking around, and even if there weren't any that night, there should still be Rukh because of the _wind _and the _plants_

But it's gone, their all gone.

_No…nonononoohpleasenonononoohgodnonononoNo! It can't be! Already?! _I paled and shivered at the thought, maybe it's just a coincidence? Maybe the Rukh is just hiding, right?! They can't be here already?! They can't-!

Any hope of it being coincidence disappeared

When I felt _their_ presence

_Al Themen_

Our time was up

Yui was already running, obviously feeling the dread that was emanated on that dark night. _We have to get home _was most likely what she was thinking as she ran through the outskirts of the town, ignoring the screams that slowly began to pierce to supposed peaceful night.

_It's useless though _

_Were all gonna die_

"Yui! Shirin!" I was startled out of my dark thoughts when I heard my father's frightened voice "Thank Solomon! You're alive!" I wanted to say something, but stopped when I saw father's attire, this was the first time I saw him wear soldier armor, he always seemed too passive to me to wield a sword, much less use it.

But he was holding one

And it was drenched in blood

"Yui, take Shirin and leave the village, were under attack!" I saw the Rukh fluttering agitatedly around him, telling how _fucking frightened _he really was. I heard Yui begin to protest, but was silenced when Zian, my father, pushed us both away, saving us from a wave of _Black Rukh so potent it was seen by the human eye. _I could only stare in shock for a second before feeling Yui stand up from the fall and tumbling away from the scene in fright.

The scene of my father screaming in agony

The scene of his Rukh falling to the ground

The scene of his black corpse

_He's dead…deaddeaddeaddead_

**_Oh my god_**

I didn't realize how much distance we traveled until I noticed the familiar scent of home and Yui's heavy breathing. Without wasting a single breath, I could only watch in morbid confusion as she opened a hidden door from the floor of our house and jumped in with no hesitation. I found myself facing a room I had never thought existed underneath our house. It was a circular room with bookshelves covering the walks, magical tools of all kinds lay scattered here and there along with scrolls which were obviously written in a different language. But what got my attention was the intricate carving on the floor.

_A magic circle_

"The spell won't let affect the user, so there's no way for both of us to escape here alive!" I looked up as she hurriedly moved my little body so that she could insert the metallic pointed thimble on her finger and set me in the middle of the circle with a gentleness that I never thought would come from her "That idiot! I could have at least teleported both of them to safety!" My eyes widened when I saw the Rukh around her gathering at her metal thimble, which, after closer inspection, was much too decorated to be a thimble in the first place.

It was a wand

I gulped at a realization

Her powerful aura, her mysterious calming _spell, _her desire to read magic scrolls

She was a magician

She was a magician all along, meaning she saw my Rukh as well, she knew I was special, she knew I had a destiny to fulfill

And she was going to save me

"Ah!" I gasped when something was thrown towards me, landing inside the circle; it was a small earring, the one she would always wear, it looked just like the single earring mother would wear. I looked up in confusion at the woman, who was frowning at me. But only then did I realize that there wasn't a hateful frown, just an irritated one, only breaking slightly into concentration or fear as the black Rukh slowly descended in here.

"That should hide most of your annoying amount of Rukh, wear it at all times!" I nodded in hasty understanding as I wore the earring on my right ear; I immediately felt an uncomfortable disconnection with the Rukh.

"Look brat," I heard Yui, my replacement mother, say as the magic circle began to glow brightly, the Rukh swirling around at the power "I don't care if you don't understand me right now, but I don't like you," I winced, I understood that pretty well "But that doesn't mean I'd let those things get to you, you have a future child, use it," I saw her bite her lip again, the black Rukh was just outside now.

"Become a queen, get married, whatever! It doesn't matter what you do in the future, **_just don't die!_**"I would have flinched in the ferocity in her words, but I could only stare in wonder at the woman as she activated the magic circle. The Rukh surrounding me was going mad now, I felt myself being lifted up by the Rukh, I yelped when I saw myself disappearing.

"Don't you die, okay? Live through that future of yours, little Joker,"

?

Before I could respond, I saw the woman smile up at me, and for the first time, I saw it reach her frightened eyes.

And I was gone

* * *

><p>On the day she found out, Yui cried herself to sleep, ignoring the pleading man outside the room<p>

She had given up her friends, her home, her _magic_, all for this?

All to be betrayed?

Before she had met him, she was one of the unfortunate few who were born as a magician, as magicians those days were used by the nobles to aid the needy, who would evolve into the lazy, who would then evolve into those who would spit curses at her and her fellow magicians when they cannot meet their selfish desires. She had many of her dearest friends, including her own parents; die because of this.

But she kept using magic

Why should she stop? Not everyone was lazy and ungrateful, she had met many villagers who would aid them and care for them even when she and her fellow magicians couldn't help them, again and again. Her teacher, the one who raised her when her parents died, was also a Gol, and he had never seen her as anything less than his student. Had she not met these people, she would have thought that all Gol were despicable people, and would curse their already miserable lives. But she didn't, because she had met those people, and she was eternally grateful for them.

They are the reason why she would improve her magic

The knowledge her fellow magicians had was not enough, they could still do more. She knew this, and immersed herself in her studies, eventually creating many magical items such as staves made for conjuring magic, and tools that could replicate the specific use of magic, so that the magicians could use that instead to prevent them from using too much of their magoi in accidents. It was a revelation that changed what they already knew about Rukh and Magoi, and Yui was praised for her find.

But it wasn't enough for her; there was a cavity in her heart that told her that something was missing in her life.

And that something could not be answered by magic.

At first she was confused by this mysterious feeling, what could it be? Magicians yearned for knowledge, they had never asked for anything more than knowledge, and it should have been the same for Yui, but it wasn't. And it confused her to no ends as to what she was looking for.

Until _he _came along

Ziang

They had met when Ziang had traveled all the way from a tiny village in the Kou Empire to search for a magician that could use magic to tell him how his friend (Lee, he said his friend's name was) was doing, as he and Lee's wife had not heard anything from the man for the 2 years he had been in the war. But locating a single man was as difficult as looking for a speck of gold in the desert, and took a two years to locate him, un-safe, but healthy for a warrior. In the two years, she and Ziang had grown close, and Yui realized what she lacked.

Family

She wanted to have a family; she wanted to have children, to cook for her husband, to see her children grow up.

So when Ziang asked for her hand in marriage, she accepted joyfully

And now look at the situation?

Oh, she knew her husband wasn't a player, he was a liar, and a good one to boot, but his intentions had always been pure, if not childish at times. To her, he was an honest man, and he was.

Sakaya, on the other hand, was a kind and sickly woman, who was always smiling at everyone; they had become friends in their get-togethers, she even gave her one half of her precious earrings, which she used as a magic tool to limit the amount of Rukh surrounding her, as it became quite annoying at times. But no one knew the anxiety she felt for having a husband missing for two years, no one saw the way she practically collapsed in relief and cried at the mention of her husband being alive and well, still strongly devoted to his wife.

They were two people who Yui never thought would get together

And they didn't, not emotionally, at least.

_"It was an accident!"_ they said, and it was, she could tell from their Rukh

But it didn't stop it from hurting.

Ah, but that wasn't all

Sakaya became pregnant with Ziang's child

_Her friend became pregnant with her husband's child_

What's worse? They decided, as to prevent Sakaya's husband from finding out, that the child would be raised as If it was _Yui that got pregnant with her husband's child_, As it would be fairly easy for the magician to create the illusion of her being the one pregnant instead of Sakaya.

_But it wasn't her child_

**_It wasn't her family_**

Yui was hurt and outraged

Why should she take care of her husband's love child!? It was an insult to all she believed in to do such an act! How dare they think she would be alright with this! How dare they make her hide their mistakes! Yui had spewed out every curse she could possibly imagine to the three despicable people who are the causes of her pain

Her darling husband

Her dear friend

Their unborn child

After all the curses left her lips, she had slumped, crying

For there was no use to curse at them

There was no use to curse the husband that is wailing for her forgiveness, when tears are the rarest sights in his face

There was no use to curse the friend that is in more grief than her, for she had just betrayed the man she loved

There was no use to curse the child who did not choose to be born for her misfortune, for children do not bare the sins of the parent

There was no use in all that.

For the damage was already done.

* * *

><p>The child had a destiny<p>

Both of Sakaya's children had a destiny, though she had a fair guess as to the younger one's destiny was.

She was not stupid; the second child of Sakaya was born exactly the same day as when her home country, Musta'sim, collapsed due to the revolt of the magicians, and from what she knew about the mysterious Magi, is that one is born during the peak of a historical event, and since word spread of the third magi's death, it was almost too easy to connect the dots.

Sakaya gave birth to a _magi_, the chooser of _kings._

And she didn't even _know it_

Ah, but what of the other child she had birthed, the love child of her husband and friend? What was the reason for her to be loved by the Rukh? Who knows? It didn't matter to her. This child in her arms was still the proof that her family is not the way she wanted, that she must carry the burden of hiding other's mistakes.

She did not learn magic for this

She did not fall in love for this

She did not leave her home for this

Ah, there she goes again, uselessly cursing as always, it was a habit she got from working with those lazy asses in her magician days. Her teacher had even given her a stupid nickname because of that un-womanly habit.

Eh, it's not as if this child could understand her

Right?

* * *

><p>Damn destiny bearing children and their surprising mental growth spurts<p>

The brat _can_ understand her

It all started when she ended up cursing at the baby again (eh, old habits die hard) she noticed the displeased and irritated face she was making, as if she understood exactly what she was saying and was _not_ happy about it.

Well that made two of them then

So she left the child alone for a few hours to see what she found do without the _she devil_ holding her. And lo and behold! She started toddling around the room like a curios little monkey despite being obviously too young to learn it.

Damn destiny bearing children and their surprising mental growth spurts

Well there goes her excitement to at least teach the child how to walk; she doesn't seem to need her to learn it anyways. No doubt she'll find out everything she needs to know eventually, she was bound to follow a certain destiny after all.

She'll just ignore the disappointment in her.

* * *

><p>She let Sakaya take care of Shirin<p>

Solomon, was her smile really worth getting crushed by those ridiculously strong arms? She saw her life flash before her eyes, dammit! Are all Kou women this strong?! Or was she just weak in body because she was a magician?! Gah! The horrors!

Well, at least she has time for herself for one, she never had the time to go to the library because of the brat, and on the one time she did, they didn't allow her in cause children were not allowed! This never happened in Musta'sim! Her home had never done this to her!

_…I miss home already…_

Home…yes. Musta'sim is now Magnostadt, the kingdom she loved is gone; her country is no more. Had not received a letter from her teacher saying that he and many of the surviving Gois had taken refuge in the Reim Empire, far from the magicians' wrath, she would have thought that she had also lost everyone she loved. However, many of her Goi friends had been killed during the war, even some of her magician friends died either because they were killed by Gois or were trying to protect the god hearted Goi people.

_Had I not married Ziang, would I have been one of those that died?_

The thought seemed terrifying

The thought _was_ terrifying

Had she not left Musta'sim, she could have been one of the magicians that died of Goi's hand? Or would she have died by her own kind's hand? The fear of dying had always been something she failed to overcome, she was weak; after all, she had always needed guidance of her teacher to overcome anyone's death. Ever since her parents died, she had been tortured every night with nightmares of her being killed so many times all alone.

_To die alone_

_That had always been her worst nightmare_

* * *

><p>"Was it really?" Yui muttered to herself as she remembered that particular event. Ziang is dead and she was able to transport the brat as far as her magic can take her, which she's pretty sure is just outside Kou Empire, the spell was supposed to send her to Reim, since she had been planning to meet up with her teacher, but alas, she couldn't even use it on herself.<p>

The disgustingly black Rukh is just right outside the door, she does not have the time to transport herself anymore, and even then, she had run out of Magoi to activate that _fucking_ spell to save that _fucking_ brat

God, she must have been crazy to save her

Yui rushed into the circle and drew out every bit of Magoi left in it to her; she pointed her thimble at the door, drawing out the different colored Rukh to the tip of her index finger.

Rukh fluttered towards the magician, Yellow…White…Green…Red…Black. The Rukh fizzed and sparked violently, Yui took the second to smile in accomplishment as she stared at the results of her constant research. A research her teacher had frowned upon because of it's dangers.

Her most powerful Aberrant Magic, strong enough to kill her with them.

She did not want to die, but why was it only now that she realized why?

She did not wish to leave her loved ones unguarded, what will they do if she died? Will they fall in depression? She did not want her loved ones to feel the pain of losing someone, like she did when her parents died. She remembered how in her nightmares, she would constantly wonder in fear as to what the evil people that killed her had done to her love ones.

But now she had lost everything, her friends, her home, even her husband. She had used the last of her magic to at least send that one child, that one child that had slowly grown on her every time she held her in her arms, as far away as possible. She doesn't need to worry about her too much; surely that child will not die so young.

That child had a destiny after all. She was the first child in history to be blood siblings with a Magi, she was a signal, a signal that great things will happen, and that the child will become a part of it all

She is the Joker in this little play

Her smile widened to an almost demonic grin as the door opened, revealing a figure draped in white cloth, contrasting to the spiral of black Rukh that effulged the room in suffocating black.

How odd, to think that the only time she had felt truly alive was on the seconds before her death.

She pointed her finger, along with her most dangerous magic, to the magic circle, and the earth beneath, before giving her killer a twisted grin.

"Now we are all… sons of bitches!"

**Day of Judgment**

* * *

><p>Oh god, what just happened?<p>

I felt myself stumble and fall the moment the Rukh let me down. I was in the middle of a grassy play, most likely somewhere in the Kouga territory, the moon was still high up in the sky, it almost seemed like it was laughing at me

But I don't care at the moment

Judar was taken by Al Themen

Everyone in the village is dead

**_I failed to change anything_**

Now everyone's dead...mother…father…Lee…the witch doctor…Yui…

_Yui_

That woman…saved me

She saved…me, the love child of her husband and friend, the child she would curse at once in a while, the child she would abandon to her mother so that she could have some free time.

The child she held gently every day

The child that she would sing to sleep

The child she wanted to call her daughter

_God, what have I done?_ If I wasn't already sitting down, I would have collapsed. That woman, Yui, she saved me, even when she didn't have to. I was just a brat she was forced to take care of because of a stupid mistake. Yet she gave up her life to make sure I was safe.

She's dead

And I couldn't do anything about it

Tears started to well in my eyes, I knew, I knew everyone was gonna die and Judar would fall to depravity, but I chose to ignore it, because…because…

**_Because it was gonna happen anyways_**

**_It was "fated" to happen, right?_**

"Wah," I clutched my head as it throbbed. Right, it was **_'fated'_** to happen. People were **_'fated'_** to suffer, **_'fated'_** to die. I couldn't do anything in the end because it was **_'fated'_**. I'm just a kid now; no amount of knowledge can stop it from happening. They died anyways, mother, father, Yui, the witch doctor; everyone was killed.

**_Fate killed them_**

"Now what is such a little girl doing here?"

I looked up in shock as the tears continued to spill from my eyes at the voice that appeared out of nowhere. My eyes widened at the person before me. It was a young man with a feminine looking face, wearing a green Magician's hat and loose-fitting green and white clothes, including thigh length boots. The man had blond hair, almost silver under the moonlight, and warm blue eyes. His hair was worn in a long braid that reached his feet. But what got my attention was the insane amount of Rukh surrounding him, as if ready to whisk him away to who knows where.

This man…isn't he…?

**_Why is he here?_**

"Please stop crying, are you alright? What's your name?" The man asked gently as he came closer, but I still couldn't stop the tears, he doesn't _understand. _My entire village was just **_fucking destroyed because of fate_** and he's asking if I'm alright?!

**_Go away_**

**_Leave me alone_**

**_I deserve to die here_**

**_I could have helped everyone, but I did nothing_**

"O-oh, do children these ages understand what we say already? I don't quite remember," He looked flustered as he mumbled to himself, before crouching down to me and picking me up.

"It's okay, child, please don't cry, can't you see that the Rukh are worried about you?" I blinked bank the tears bit and looked at him in confusion, before turning around to see my Rukh. Sure enough, they were clustered towards me and encircled my now tiny body, as if they were trying to comfort me. I felt one of the Rukh touch the tears on my face, making them disappear. At that moment, I heard what they were trying to tell me.

**_"Please don't cry," "It's not your fault,"_**

**_"Don't cry, don't cry," "You are not alone,"_**

**_"Those dear to you will never disappear," "It is not the fault of fate,"_**

**_"Please don't blame yourself," "They are watching over you, you were not abandoned,"_**

**_You were not abandoned_**

The tears came back in full force. Is that true? Aren't I at fault here? I wanted to help everyone, but in the end they still died. Are you telling me it's not my fault, that they don't hate me for it? They didn't abandon me?

Then whose fault was it? Who killed my family and took Judar away from me?

**_"Al Themen,"_**

…right, despite knowing that disrupting the flow of fate would result to a catastrophe, they still did it. All because…all because they hated Solomon for killing their "god"

They killed my entire village just for some "god"

They took Judar away from me just for some "god"

I…

**_"Just don't die!"_**

…right…I-I should live on, I can at least keep that promise. I-I don't want to be involve in the story anymore, it's too painful, but I can at least live my life.

Right…Yui?

"You seem to have calmed down somewhat!" I saw the relieved smile on the man's face as the Rukh around us practically sang in glee "I was worried actually, I thought you would fall to depravity right there and then," I blinked at that. Right, that could have happened, couldn't it? Shit, that would have been terrible. I must have made a face, since the young man chuckle lightly. I pouted at this, to which his only reply was a pat on the head.

…huh…I feel calmer already…

"Now," he said to himself as he lifted me a bit higher, so that our eyes could meet "What to do with you?" He tilted his head in confusion as he looked at me "The Rukh obviously wanted me to meet you, since they're the ones that brought me here in the first place…but," I blinked at the magi, is he talking to himself? Or those he think I understand him? What a weird guy "What now?" He started mumbling to himself; at times he would pout just like I did as he mumbled.

Hah, god, I don't think this sight would look so cute

"Haha, your face is funny!" I said out loud by accident, the man blinked and chuckled as well "Oh, is it!? Haha! I don't realize that I had such a funny face!" Soon enough we started laughing together. How weird, just a minute ago, I was about to fall into depravity…but now…

Did he cast a calming spell on me? Like what Yui did?

"Why don't you come with me then?" The young man asked, and the Rukh surrounding us seemed happy with the proposal "It would seem as fate wanted us to meet anyways," I thought for a second, before smiling back at the man.

Weird…I don't want to be part of the plot, I don't want to mess things up…but for some reason, just looking at his serene face, watching as the Rukh danced around us…

I just can't say no

"Okay!" I said cheerfully, the Rukh shining in brilliant white "I'm Shirin! Nice to meet you!" The man smiled at me as well, a simple smile of a very childish, yet wise magi.

I don't want to be part of the plot, I don't want to ruin things…but it's alright if I go with him, right? I have nowhere else to go anyways, and just as he said, it would seem as fate wanted us together anyways. Besides, he doesn't do much to the plot until the Magnostadt arc, so I should be safe from harm for a while.

It's not like fate itself is trying to squeeze in the plot as well, right

With my reply, the man smiled at me and told me his name "You can call me Yunan! Nice to meet you too!"

…right?

* * *

><p><strong>That's better! I'm worried that it's too long now actually! You know when it gets so long that when you finish the chapter, you don't comment? I hope that doesn't happen.<strong>

**Read and Review!**


	3. How you want to live your life

**First, I know that the Magician revolution happened ten years ago instead of eighteen years ago, since Dunya was thirteen when that happened. But since Magi appear in the world during a great change, and there were no significant events that were said in the manga that could have been the reason for Judar's birth (Actually, there was, but I didn't think of connecting the creation of the Kou Empire with the birth of Judar when I made this fanfic), I decided to use this one, since the change was great enough in my opinion. It was that or the great fire that killed Emperor Hakutoku's eldest sons, which also happened a decade prior to the manga.**

**Despite this time change, Dunya was still thirteen when this happened, making her thirty one when she makes her appearance. Yamahaira, however, will stay her actual age, 25. (Not because I'm pairing her with a certain sword idiot or anything…*nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*)**

**BEWARE! This chapter will appear a bit crackish or cliché most of the time (It's more like a collection of connected drabbles if you ask me), but that was because I got a bit down hearted from all the tragic drama last chapter that I wanted this one to be in a more…lighter tone. Plus my Beta went on vacation with her kids…**

**DISCLAIMER: I, just like any other fanfiction writer in this universe, do not own the Magi series nor claim so. My property is only my OC's identities.**

* * *

><p>Destiny's Play<p>

Chapter 3:

How you want to live your life

_What is my purpose?_

* * *

><p>Okay, before you ask, I might as well voice those thoughts of yours. I'm pretty sure it would be something like "Hey Shirin! What's it like living with the guardian of the Great Rift himself? Must be cool, right? Of course it would be, he <em>is <em>a magi," right? Well to answer your question, it wasn't…

It was pure _torture_

…

…

…

N-Not actual _torture _mind you, Yunan would never hurt me!

…intentionally, that is.

For all the magi's accumulated wisdom from being reincarnated nine (Eight? Seven? I have no idea really) times, that guy has the parental knowledge of the rock that he sleeps under for all these years. I guess he never bothered to learn such mundane practices like taking care of a growing one year old girl.

What? Don't believe me? Here's an example! It happened a couple of months after Yunan took me in, it was relatively nice at first, Yunan was obviously unused to taking care of a one year old, so I took pity on him and started trying to pick up my own weight in things one year olds shouldn't be bothering with yet, it wouldn't do either of us good if Yunan had to comfort a crying baby.

One time, Yunan made me tea for the first time since I came here, it was really sweet at first, it tasted a lot like jasmine though, and I was going to congratulate him for making such sweet tasting tea…when…all of a sudden…

_G-GHWAAAH! WHAT THE HELL AM I TASTING?! Is that SQUID?! No wait, CHICKEN?! IN TEA?! _

I literally chocked when I felt an overflow of different flavors burn my throat, and if that wasn't traumatizing already, after a few seconds, I started getting this uncomfortable waxy sensation in my tongue.

WHO THE HELL PUT'S A _CANDLE _IN TEA?!

Yunan, that's who,

(Was he still flighty from having a person living with him now? Seriously though, I don't care if it went all right in the manga; I am _sooo _making sure he doesn't do this to Mor)

So yeah…that was the day I started helping out in the kitchen…

That wasn't even the last, there was this time when i almost fell head first into the great Rift because _someone accidentally pushed me off while talking to some people from Toran._

God, how am I still alive?

But as they say, you learn things on the way. After a year of mishaps (And the generous aid of the people of Toran, God I don't know how to thank them for pitying my days with their frequent tea partner) Yunan was finally able to get the gist of parenthood and started relaxing around my presence, he wasn't used to not being alone all the time I guess, so having another person in the house must have been scary for him. I on the other hand had done the impossible

I had _finally_ gotten over the fact that I'm a kid again! Hooray! Let's have a party!

…

…N-No seriously, I never really got over the fact that I'm a pipsqueak now when, a few years ago, I was an adult and had a job. I didn't think about it much during my year with Judar and Yui, but that didn't mean I accepted it. I guess I got used to the fact that I'm a kid again because of Yunan. He has this weird urge to carry me every now and then and tickle me awake and gave me this cute little nickname that sounds similar to the nicknames I would give to my child charges during my college years, if that doesn't force me to accept the fact, then I don't know what will.

Huh, Now that I think about it, living with Yunan really isn't half bad after all! We just had a rocky start I guess. Now that we've gotten used to each other, there had been more good memories than bad.

If there was one particular moment though that really stuck to me, it was the day he taught me how to read and write…

* * *

><p>Since we were in a place where no light ever comes in, I couldn't really tell whether or not it was day or night when I happened, all I knew was that it was before Yunan would cook and after I took a bath. I was in one of the many rooms in Yunan's large but still very much spacious wooden house; it was a small square shaped room with three bookshelves lined side by side against the wall, brimming with scrolls. On the center of the room was a circular mat and a short legged table, similar to a <em>Kotatsu <em>from Japan, and at the moment, the table was completely flooded with random scrolls as a little kid tried to read it, and utterly failed to do so.

Gah, how aggravating.

_I hate this _I growled at myself as I tried, and completely failed, to read one of the many random scrolls I picked out of the bookshelves. Reading was an essential skill in my world, especially when it came to deciphering a doctor's note, so the idea that I can't read anymore is so _damn frustrating and agggghhhh! God I have to learn everything all over again!_

Why couldn't it be a single language?

Okay, let me tell you a fact about myself first, through English had always been my main language, I actually got the gist of two other languages, Japanese, and, surprisingly, Latin. Learning Latin was mandatory in our college, that and my friends would use it once and a while for fun, so learning it was inevitable. The reason I know Japanese however, was completely my fault. You see, I _really _hated waiting for chapters of my favorite manga in English, and I had a friend who could order the manga I wanted straight from Japan for a fee…well you could guess the rest. The main fact is that I know a bit about languages.

And _none of them _were the language of magi

Actually, it wasn't a single language at all! Instead, it was a mix of different ancient languages forming into_one gigantic language_! It must have been created from the languages from Alma Toran! Things make perfect sense then! I mean, if there was only one language, where do people get the meaning of their names? Or the names of their countries? Or the names of the magic spells? And why did the Kou Empire have eastern sounding names while people in Reim had Roman sounding names!? It was a huge mindblow for me when I realized this.

…Doesn't mean I could read it though…

Back to cursing then

…_Waaah, this is so frustrating!_ I growled to myself as I flopped the scroll down loudly _I literally have to learn to read all over again!_

"Ririn? What's that noise?" I jumped a bit before looking up from the annoying scrolls of gibberish at the sound of the old magi's soft voice, finding him across the room by the door, peeking through the rectangular doorway in confusion and worry. I grinned, I completely forgot! I could get Yunan to teach me! I giggled slightly in embarrassment, how could I forget that the guy I'm living with was none other than the _Magi of the Great Rift_?

"Sorry," I said with a grin as I failed to even stumble out of the mess of scrolls, I cursed inwardly at the tiny legs I now have.

Yunan giggled at the sight and fully entered the room, shifting his wand a bit so that he could pick me up from the blankets of paper. That was one of the normal occurrences in this household, another of which was me double checking the food Yunan makes, something Yunan finds both amusing, and somewhat insulting.

(What? I ain't taking my chances!)

"I want to know what it says, Nana!" I chirped excitedly as I pointed at the scrolls beneath us. I don't exactly remember when (No light reaches this place after all) but I started calling Yunan "Nanan", or just plain "Nana" sometimes. I didn't really want to call him papa or anything of the sorts, because I know my dad, in both lives, and I didn't want to add a third dad to the family tree. But I really didn't want to call him just "Yunan" for the rest of my life and all, i don't want to sound like I'm talking to a stranger instead of the guy that adopted me.

Plus, he gave me a nickname first…so…why not?

(But really, it's worth it. The first time I called him that, Yunan got all flustered and cute like he wasn't hundreds of years older than me)

"…huh? …Oh! You mean you don't know how to read yet, Ririn?" I shook my head and Yunan smiled brightly, bringing me up to meet his feminine face, just like he did on the day we met, a year ago.

"Why didn't you say so? Come on! It shouldn't be that hard to teach you!" With me still in his arms, Yunan sat cross-legged in front of the cluttered table, placing me between his legs before he flicked his wand, willing the magically created house to clean the small room and bring forth an empty scroll and an inkwell with an alabaster feather.

I…I have got to learn that trick

"Hm…how should I start?" Yunan mumbled to himself as he took the alabaster feather from the inkwell, its tip smothered in black. After a few seconds, a look of realization hit him and he began writing two unfamiliar symbols on the once untainted paper. I looked at the two symbols in confusion before tilting my head up to gaze at the blond man who wrote them.

"What's this?" I asked him as I pointed at the symbols, Yunan smiled "It's your name, silly!" I made a gasp of surprise when Yunan took my little left hand in his own hand and guided it as it traced the dried symbols.

"This symbol is **'Shi' **meaning 'family'," He said as he traced the square-ish letter with my hand

"While this one, **'Rin'**, means 'to love'," I stared intently as he guided my hand once more to trace the more rounded letter

"Together," He said as we traced both letters as one "They make **'Shirin' **meaning 'To love one's family',"

_Shirin_

_To love one's family_

…

…

…_**The fucking hell?**_

…What the hell is that?! …Me? The one who loves family?!_**Bullshit!**_No one who loves their family would leave them to die! No one who loves their family would let their sibling get kidnapped! **No one who loves their family should be laughing just a **_**few fucking months since everyone's death. **_

And I'm doing just that, aren't i?

I-

"Ririn? Ah, don't cry, why are you crying?" I felt the hand that was holding mine gently grip it tighter as the other hand turned me around to face the confused and very much worried Yunan.

He was _sincerely_ worried

To the me from my past life, the manga had portrayed him as a free spirited and somewhat tired Magi who has a lot of secrets under that childish façade. Through I had liked him as a character in the manga, I always had this feeling that he may have a disagreement with the others one day because he experienced so much in his multiple lives, and knew what could happen.

The manga never showed this side of him before. Or maybe it did, but the expression was too unreadable to be seen from a piece of paper. But right now, standing right in front of him, I could see it clearly in his half covered eyes.

_Honest worry…for me_

(But this isn't the manga is it? If it was, I wouldn't be crying over dead characters)

"Shh, it's okay…I don't know why you got like this, but it's alright, I'm here, you're going to be alright," He murmured to me as he gave me a kiss in my forehead, instantly calming me down, I don't even care whether it was a spell or not anymore. I blinked and shook my head to clear it out a bit more, I got emotional again. That always happens when the subject was family related. I remember having outright fistfights with my teachers during high school when they started criticizing my younger brother.

Yunan gave me a reassuring smile, albeit a bit worried from my sudden change in behavior, before giving me a pat on the head "Thank goodness you're back to normal," He said quietly, after a few seconds, he dared to ask.

"What was that about anyways? Did you really hate the meaning of your name that much?" He asked in confusion, in which I shook my head, no; in actually, the name was perfect for me, given how devoted my past life was to my family.

(It's just that I haven't been doing things that lived up to its meaning)

…_Ah, but I have to give a reason, don't i? Lest Yunan makes his own conclusions._

_He deserves that much_

"Um…I-I don't have a family," I said after I realized that the magi wanted answers, but couldn't find it in myself to tell him the full truth "…They died…I don't have a family anymore," If I was any saner, I would have realized that the conversation was really too deep for a two year old, but I just felt so _tired _of beating myself up for it…it's not like anything will change even if I cried about it. So it doesn't matter if I told him about it…right?

"I don't have a family to love anymore,"

"_**Not true, not true," "Is family just by blood?"**_

…?

"…I'm hurt, Ririn," I blinked and looked up at the pouting magi with sad eyes, as if he didn't…_couldn't, _hear the voices that spoke just now "You call me 'Nanan' yet you say you don't have a family?"

"…Eh? What do you mean?" I asked in honest confusion. Wait, back up a second, Does my nickname to Yunan actually have a _meaning_? I just did what Yunan did to my name and did a repeat of his last syllable. At my question, Yunan looked horribly put out, and sighed deeply before turning my around to face the table again.

"You'll just have to find out, right?" He said before continuing our lesson, ignoring my sincerely confused face as I watched him sigh and pout a few times as his thoughts wandered.

What?

* * *

><p>It took me three weeks to find out the meanings of our nicknames, and three seconds to realize why Yunan was so upset when I said I didn't have a family<p>

_Ririn (Riri)_

_Daughter/ Dearest/ My child_

_Nanan (Nana)_

_Mother/ Mama/ Mommy_

…

…

…pffft

KEHAHAHAHAKA! No wonder Nanan was so flustered when I first called him Nanan! I pretty much called him "Momma"! So much for not adding another parent on the family tree! I am _soooo _not changing it!

I was laughing so hard that I didn't realize that my cheeks were starting to get wet with tears.

_Even before I realized it, Yunan had already accepted me as "Family"_

_I have a family again_

(Five minutes after that, I throttled Nanan with a hug. Despite the sudden impact, the smile on Nanan's face was priceless)

* * *

><p>"Nanan! What are we gonna eat today?"<p>

"Hm? Oh! I actually got this nice soup from this mother from the Toran village; let's eat it with some herbal tea today, sounds good?"

"Yay! I'll go get the tea set then!'

I trotted away from Yunan to get to the cupboard across the room as he took a brass pot from the counter and poured the cold soup in it before using flame magic to set up the fire. I paused for a second and looked at the cooking magi from the corner of my eye, with his power of alchemy; he should be able to just conjure food on his own. The fact he had done so horribly in his first attempts in cooking just proves that he relied on magic (and maybe the Toran village sometimes) for food. Yet from the one and a half years I've spent in this house, I've always seen him cook like any normal magician.

(What changed?)

Due to my clouded thoughts, I didn't realize that I was still walking until I bumped my head on the cupboard, causing _fucking hell! The plates are gonna fall on me!_

Lesson learnt: do not think and walk at the same time

Consequence: Nothing

Huh?

I blinked and slowly removed the arms that were shielding me and opened my eyes, the plates that were gonna hit me (and possibly pierce my two year old cranium once it smashes in my head, causing blood loss and high probability of death should it not be treated) lay broken on the ground, bounced off by a white sphere surrounding me. I blinked once, then twice, before turning to Yunan to see if he was the one that put the barrier over me. But the shocked expression on his face told me he wasn't the reason.

"Shirin…how?" I heard Yunan mumble in shock as he saw the barrier disappear, before putting his hand on his chin "…That was defiantly a Borg just now, no mistake about it, But…," I blinked again…huh? Borg? As in…

What?

Aren't Borgs like, the trademark of…_magicians?_

"How is that possible?" I looked at Yunan, his happy face was gone, and what replaced it was a face of utter seriousness as he muttered to himself "I was positive that- did I read her wrong? …No, but the Borg…," I heard him mutter to himself. Okay, now I'm confused, what's he talking about? Doesn't having a Borg mean I'm a magician, simple as that? I shouldn't be any different from others…

_So why do I feel like my circumstances are…different?_

"_**Because they are," "You're not a magician,"**_

"_**A shared power," "You two merged, didn't you?"**_

I clutched my head as I shook it. What? What the hell is with these voices? Had being reborn caused me to get MPD? God, I hope not. What is it even talking about? Not a magician? Shared power? Merged? What the hell is it trying to say?! And why the hell couldn't it say anything in proper sentences?!

What does this mean?

_Gahh, this silence is killing me, might as well kill it first_

"Nanan? You're making a weird face," I said, purposely startling him out of his thoughts "Did I do something wrong?"

Yunan blinked a few times before smiling slightly and picking me up "…Nah, Nanan was just surprised that Ririn was a magician like me," he said, his serious face was gone and replaced by a peaceful face, I smiled, I really hate it when he frowns like that, so the smile was reassuring.

I was opening my mouth to say something about the matter when the scent of the soup effulged my nose and Yunan's nose. Both of use quickly turned our heads to the pot of heating soup. Or, judging from the amount of smoke coming from it, what's left of the soup.

"Waaah! Nanan! The soup is on fire!"

"Waaah! Not again!"

That day we had to eat out at the Toran village, they are so nice.

* * *

><p>Despite the mishap with the soup, neither of us forgot of the events before that<p>

Yunan had come up to me after a few days concerning my status as a magician. Being a magician was pretty dangerous at that time, and had fatal consequences if the caster didn't have the proper training to keep him or her safe. So he proposed teaching me a thing or two about magic, so that, as I quote: "Burn down the house and force me to make a new one every time,"

(Is he observing how much of a 'magician' I am?)

Unsurprisingly, Yunan is a great teacher. Even if magic itself was already a subject that I was excited to learn (It's _magic_ people, _how can you not get exited?!_), he upped my excitement by showing off a few times to show me how it works. I could defiantly say that our days together have gotten way better after this incident.

Yes…everything is going perfectly…

* * *

><p>"NANAN!? What the fucking hell is that!?"<p>

"Ririn! No cussing! Where did you even learn that?"

"N-Never mind that! Why do you have a statue of a busty woman!? Is Nanan a closet pervert?!"

I watched as Yunan spluttered helplessly as his face went red and little tear droplets appeared in his eyes at the accusation, before eyeing the crystal bust of the naked woman. I have a feeling I know what it was, but I guess my mind just went blank when I saw Yunan taking it out from a box. Hey, you would to if you saw your parent figure holding a naked statue of the opposite gender.

"A-Am not!" Yunan cried, before calming himself down "This is a trinket I got from a magician when I visited the country of Musta'sim, Ah! I mean Magnostadt ! I almost forgot the magician revolution that happened two years ago," Yunan said out loud as he placed the magic tool on the table of our dining room. My eye twitched as I stared at the statue, yup; pretty sure I've seen something like this before. What was it again?

(Inwardly, I sighed in relief. Thank god he wasn't a closet pervert. Or a pervert at all)

"So what is it?" I asked

"From what the magician told me, it was supposed to identify the type of Rukh that you can harness the easiest, do you remember our lesson about magic types and colored Rukh?" I nodded fervently, in the back of my mind; I made a sound of realization as I looked at the crystal statue.

Oh, it was that weird Rukh identifier that Aladdin used in the manga, no wonder it looked familiar.

_Why was it even a busty woman anyways? Was the guy who made this a pervert or something?_

(I the corner of my eye, I saw the Rukh fluttering in amusement)

"This will help us figure out what type works best for you!" He said, before gesturing for me "Come one, touch it and see what happens!" I grumbled a bit before, reluctantly, holding the statue

By. The. Head

(No fucking way I'm touching the boobs, I ain't no pervert like Aladdin)

I blinked when the Rukh in the statue started changing, turning from white to a more purple hue. I tilted my head in confusion, but just when I was about to come up with the meaning of the purple color-

_*Thrust!* *Smack!*_

"Ririn?! Are you okay?"

_Inside_ my head, an _itsy __wincey__**tiny**__ voice_ said:

_Okay?! OKAY?! I JUST GOT SMACKED BY A FREAKING VINE IN THE FACE! HOW THE HELL AM I OKAY?!_

_Outside _my head, however:

"Nanan? I'm gonna kill the thing, okay?" I told my mentor/parent as I got up and looked around for something to bash that thing with, that hammer by the kitchen looks good. Yes, now all I have to do is get it and-

Instead of taking me seriously (Cause I was _seriously_ gonna destroy that thing) Yunan laughed before healing up the bleeding nose and wiping off the blood that was still trailing down my lip, this _did not_ happen to Aladdin and the others.

"Nope, you can't," I grumbled while Nanan dusted my clothes, then glaring at the criminal, who was still right on the table, looking as innocently as it can with its exposed boobs and laughing mouth.

_I'm watching you_

"Anyways, congratulations on becoming a purple magician, Ririn!" I turned to the smiling Nanan as he clapped his hands lightly, the Rukh around us fluttering as excitedly as he was.

"That means you're a life magician, a magician that has affinity with the Purple Rukh," I nodded slightly, Life magician? I wracked my brain for information about it. From what I know, there were only two magicians seen in the manga under this category, one was Sphintus, the other was Aladdin's Teacher's brother (Forgot his name). A sub category of life magic was-

Healing magic

I grinned widely

Healing, huh? Perfect! I always wanted to be a healer, in both lives. Plus, no one usually messes with the healer, since their too busy killing each other, so I should be fine if people started whacking each other's heads open. This world needs more people under the medical field anyways.

Maybe I have chance to survive in this world after all

* * *

><p><em>Why <em>_**am**__ I even in this world?_

I thought as I put down the newly made book I was writing on while Yunan was out doing who knows what, he tends to do that recently. I didn't want the events of the manga to disappear from me; it might be useful in the future, so I decided to write it down so that I don't forget. I didn't want anyone to read it though; god knows the trouble I'd be put into if someone knew of the future events. So I wrote half in English, and half in Japanese.

In my past life, I was an avid reader of fanfiction, particularly the reincarnation fics where a human from the modern world gets reborn into an anime/manga world and mess up the entire plot with them just being there. But unfortunately, I had yet to find a fanfiction that asked _why _this happens before I died. I mean, isn't it odd that they got reincarnated into a world that they knew as fantasy in their past lives? Or that their reincarnated at all?

What if those fanfics…those _stories…_actually happened?

I have a theory concerning this odd parallel connection. What if all those worlds you saw in anime/ manga/ cartoons/ books/ whatever were real from the beginning? Instead of making a whole new story, the writer of the story is actually writing of an event that had happened, is happening, or will happen in a particular world. Fanfiction writers, however, write of events from worlds parallel to the world the author originally took the story from. That answers why in this world, the magician rebellion happened eight years earlier than the 'original plot' and that…well. I was born as Judar's sister.

It's a sad theory, since it meant that none of us really wrote anything "unique", but it's the only theory I can come up with, and it's plausible in my opinion.

How about reincarnation then?

I don't believe that the afterlife _doesn't _exist. What happens after people die in this world is proof enough that things such as 'heaven' or 'hell' can exist in some worlds. Reincarnation, in my opinion, is when the soul accidentally slips away from the 'almighty movement' and returns to the world of the living. It could also be that the soul unconsciously remembers a world which you read or at least made a connection to, and enters it, thus beginning many of the reincarnation fics I've read.

Was that what happened to me?

…_But…if I remember correctly…at that time before I was born…_

If that was the case, why did it seem like the Rukh then were _leading me to this world_…?

I shrugged

…_Doesn't matter really, I'm here anyways _I thought as I clutched my chest, but even then the worry didn't leave me.

* * *

><p>"…Nanan, can I ask you something?"<p>

"Hm? Of course, what is it?"

"What's the world like?"

"…eh?" Yunan paused from his cooking and turned around to face me siting on the chair, his face clearly showing his surprise "What do you mean, Ririn?"

I fidgeted in my seat, careful not to fall off "You said you were a traveler, right?" I said slowly, at Yunan's nod of confirmation, I continued "That means you know a lot about the other countries of the world, right? Can you tell me?" I asked.

I'm not the adventurous kind really, I prefer staying in one place than fighting through the horrors of the outside world, but this was another matter entirely. For the past three and a half years since I was reincarnated into this world, I didn't even get a glimpse of the new world I was in. So no one can blame me for being curious about the world that I got to know from a book.

Plus, I would have to be blind, deaf, _and_ dumb to not realize that even Yunan was getting restless from staying indoors for the past three years.

"Hmm..," Yunan pondered for a moment before extinguishing the finished soup and sitting down on the chair in front of me "Okay! I'd be happy to tell you!" He conjured up two cups of jasmine tea before telling his story.

"Where to start?" He mumbled before taking a sip of his tea "Ah! How about I tell you a little about each country I traveled in?" at my nod, he told me stories, one for each country still existing, some which happened many, many years ago, while others just happened almost recently, Either way, I dranked every bit of it.

"So you're saying there's a magi like you that's almost immortal in Reim?" I asked the magi when he spoke about Scheherazade in one of his tales, I was practically jumping at my seat from all the stories Nanan had, who knew history lessons could be so exiting? Or maybe it's just exiting because it's Nanan telling it? Either way, I couldn't care less.

"Mmhmm," Yunan nodded "Aside from me and her, their used to be a third magi, but she died about a decade ago, I think," Yunan nodded his head "The new magi should be born about now, too, with the rebellion of the magicians and the formation of Magnostadt," I smiled at this, unwilling to show the sad and knowing look that wanted to creep into my face.

_That person had already been born, as my little brother._

Gah, drama.

"…You really don't know much about the world, do you?" Yunan inquired after a while, and at the nod of my head, he hummed "I guess that was a given, you were only a year old when we met, and the farthest I had ever taken you was by the village of Toran…"

It was my turn to hum at this, the guys in the village were really nice to me and Yunan, they even taught me how to speak their language, though I still use the dominant language with Nanan when were in the house. It feels really cool to technically know all the languages in the world.

"…Do you want to learn more about the world?"

"…Huh? Like studying? But that's so boring!" I wailed halfheartedly, hey, I'm still technically three and a half here; I have the right to wail. Through I didn't push it, lest I make Yunan cry.

(There was this one time when I pushed a bit too far, and Yunan started crying for real. I got all mother hen mode and _cooed him_ out of his crying fit. I _cooed him_, _**the magi**_. God that was embarrassing! Stupid sister instincts and crybaby brothers!)

Yunan laughed "That's not really what I meant, Ririn," He patted my head from across the table "But really, if you had the chance to learn more about the other countries of the world, would you?" I blinked at him for a minute, before nodding.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Yunan smiled brightly at this

"Great! We'll leave tomorrow then!"

Yay!" I cheered; I'll finally be able to see the world of Magi with my own two eyes! Yahooo!

…

…

…wait a second, what?

"Wait, what?" I asked, blinking in confusion at the smiling Magi, what just happened?

"Well the best way to get to know something is experiencing it, right?" Yunan said, an exited smile on his face "What better way to learn more about the world than traveling across it?"

"…Or…could it be you want to stay here?" Yunan added after a while when his smile faltered, looking very much saddened at the thought, through there was a glint of something in his eyes that I couldn't comprehend.

I winced, if I refuse, theirs the chance that Yunan wouldn't leave the house as well. If that happens, Yunan can't bring forth the first dungeon and guide Sinbad into it, leaving him Djinn-less for maybe the rest of his life. Unless Judar comes in and gets Sinbad as his king, either way, that could cause the _country of Sindria, _and_ the Seven Seas Alliance _to_ cease to exist._

It's scary how one little choice can affect so much. Really, it is.

"No no! I want to go with Nanan to see the world!" I said immediately, I could have sworn I heard the Rukh around us chuckle and hum in approval, but I ignored it as something from my imagination, as I figured out that aside from me, no one, not even Yunan, could hear these voices. Maybe it's a side effect from dying and being reincarnated. You start hearing voices in your head in the form of Rukh.

Yunan smiled happily, almost excitedly in my opinion, only then did I realize just how _long _it must have been for the Magi to stay in one place, all to take care of _me_. I have to say that I was a bit guilty, and deeply touched, about it

"That's great! We'll leave tomorrow then, now, prepare the table would you? We have a long day tomorrow," Without even a word of protest coming from my lips, Yunan lifted me up from the chair that was too tall for me and set me down to the ground, before going back to the cooled pot of soup and putting some of it in a bowl ( for Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Midnight snack? I don't know anymore)

Even after we finished dinner and I was in the brink of falling asleep in Yunan's arms as he took me to our room, my mind was still racing in excitement at the thought of finally, _finally, _getting to see the world in my own two eyes.

And so starts our adventures in the world of Magi!

* * *

><p>But first…<p>

"Water? Check!"

"Ririn…,"

"Food? Check!"

"U-Uhm…,"

"Medical equipment? Double check!"

"Isn't that a bit too much?"

"No! You can never be too prepared, Nanan!" I told the exasperated Magi as I shoved item after item in this large cloth bag that I found lying around his study room

"What if Nanan falls asleep and a gang of thieves starts chasing us!? What if I get hungry during the trip!? What if we have to run away from a man-eating flower-or something-before it eats us!? _Preparation is **key**_!" Yunan shook his head, and stared at the cloth bag I was stuffing in the necessities.

"I know that, but don't you think you've packed enough? The bag is twice your size!" I blinked and looked back…huh…so it was. How did it get so big? Did it grow larger before or after I stuffed the kitchen utensils in? I felt sweat drip down from my forehead all the way to my cheek.

Packing looked so much easier on television…

…what? I've never packed for long trips in the wilderness, okay? Don't judge!

"How about we take some of it out?" Yunan said before coming closer to the bulging bag, but before he could open it up…

"NOOO!"

"WAAHHH! NOT THE HAIR!"

"WE NEED THEM! **ALL OF THEM**!"

"…Even the sewing kit?"

"…w-well,"

I involuntarily squeaked when I felt the braid I was clinging to being lifted, until I was in direct contact with Nanan's blue eyes, which at the moment were looking at me with what I can tell was humor filled exasperation.

(In the back of my mind, I still remember how I would give kids the same expression before I died)

"Ne, how about I just give you something that can hold all these?" junk went unsaid, and I just pouted like the little child I'm supposed to be, But didn't argue.

Guess it was stupid of me to think that Yunan wouldn't have something that could hold all these…

After letting me down (And me releasing his hair) Yunan bobbed his wand once before something from the room behind him went flying to my neck, I squeaked for the second time in shock when I saw the stringed necklace that appeared on my neck, the strings encircled my neck and ended with a red pendant tied on the end.

Then Yunan tapped it with his staff

Then the sack of stuff disappeared into light

Then the light went into the gem trapped in string, giving off a faint red glow before going back to a dull red color.

…

"What the hell just happened?"

"Ririn! Language!"

That was the day I got my trusty storage necklace, god knows how much I needed it.

* * *

><p>Okay, now we start our adventures in the world of Magi!<p>

* * *

><p>Using Yunan's time and space magic and the lovely help of the Rukh, it took only a whole year for the two of us to explore the different countries of the world I'm living in.<p>

…well, it wouldn't have taken that long if the longest amount of time we'd stay in a country wasn't half a year

…and it wouldn't have been so short if our shortest amount of time in a country wasn't three seconds

One way or another, every time we set foot into another country, and I mean every time, something comes up and we end up running for our lives or teleporting ourselves out of there. One of the countries we went through, Balbadd, I got too excited about being in the place that was the _freakin turning point of the whole manga_ that I didn't notice that I was already separated from Yunan until a band of slave dealers thought it was a good idea to nab the kid that was blissfully wondering around without a parent.

_Huh, I guess I know now how that thief got behind me in my past life._

Needless to say, Yunan was not pleased to find his daughter-figure tied up with a bunch of fearfully crying merchants in a secret hideout a few hours after I was captured. Nanan could be quite scary if you pushed his buttons a bit too much, I was lucky enough to have never been on the receiving end of this side of Nanan. Through I did get a watered down version of it after he got me out (and pretty much everyone else since he practically obliterated the secret hideout, geez, I hope that doesn't affect the main plot) and proceeded to reprimand me about how careless I was, which I was, so I really had nothing to retort about that.

Well I guess I did pout at the fact that I was being reprimanded…

Another incident happened in the Reim Empire. After about four weeks or so of staying there, keeping a low profile since Yunan didn't want people to identify him as a magi, we decided to get a peek at the coliseum there, since everyone we talked to seemed to somehow add it to whatever conversation we start. Yunan even got us front row seats to the show, through the only reason for that was because the ticket person took pity on our lack of knowledge concerning the, as I quote: wonders of the coliseum, and gave us front row tickets to get a first class experience.

I guess he didn't put into equation that the beasts today could jump high enough to go over the walls, and into the front row.

Ha, first class experience that was

Ah, and let's not forget our trip to the kingdom of Heliohapt-

* * *

><p><em>"AAGGHH! NANAN IT <strong>BURNS!<strong>"_

_"WAAHHH! TELEPORT! TELEPORT! **TELEPORT!**"_

* * *

><p>-That was the country that stayed in for only three seconds before teleporting ourselves out of there to prevent our skins from blending with our shadows<p>

…yeah, I ain't going there anytime soon…

But I must say the most memorable one would have to be the country i stayed in for half a year, my original home, the Kou Empire.

* * *

><p>It started just like any other country we visited at first. We would find ourselves in the alleyways of the city, look around for a few hours while Yunan told me little tit bits about the country were in as I rode on his shoulders, then find a crate or two where we could sleep in since Yunan likes cold and dark places but can't materialize our house here since the empire was too big and crowded that there weren't any inconspicuous spots were we could place it.<p>

…What? You don't hear me complaining! It really is nice sleeping in tight spaces!

Well anyways, we were like that for a week or two, until Yunan had this fantastic idea on sneaking in to the royal palace to show me what it looks like.

_Really, does Yunan even know the term trespassing? _

_…probably not_

"See, Ririn?" Yunan said as he floated above the royal palace, carrying me like a teddy bear "This is where the first emperor of the Kou Empire, Emperor Hakutoku, resides alongside his family, he was able to unify the three countries that fought each other endlessly to save the people of Tenka, I wonder what he will do next?"

Without him noticing, I winced. Right, it should still be about 15 years prior to the beginning of the manga, meaning 5 whole years before the tragedy of the fire that killed Hakuryuu and Hakuei's brothers, Hakuyuu and Hakuren, and gave the control of the empire to Emperor Koutoku Ren, the father of Kouen, Koumei, Kouha, and Kougyuoku.

I gulped

**_Could I change this fate? It might not have been their original fate anyways, since Al Themen had their hand on killing the emperor and his two eldest sons._**

**_But…what if it goes wrong? What if I just make things worse and kill Hakuryuu and Hakuei along with them? What if I mess up?_**

**_What if I mess up?_**

Gah, I feel dizzy from all this.

"Shirin? Are you okay?" I looked up at Yunan's worried face staring down at me "Ah, are you getting dizzy from floating? Let's go down for a bit then,"

Without registering the protests coming from my mouth, Yunan gracefully landed us on the balcony of one of the many rooms in the palace. Presumably like every room in this palace, it was beautiful and well furnished with silken white drapes hanging here and there. The only signs of identifying what this room was for were the tiny clutter of toys here and there and the four occupants of the room, one of which was a one year old boy…

…wait, what?

"Hello there," My head snapped up to stare at the person I called my parent-figure. What the hell is he doing?!"Might we rest here for a tiny bit? We won't take long, I promise," Without looking at the shocked, and acceptably apprehensive looks the children gave him, he put me down the soft ground, completely ignorant about the way my mouth was opening and closing like a fish before snapping it shut and slapping my forehead.

_Gah, he really doesn't know the term trespassing_

I tugged my clothes, a simple dark red dress, brown hood, and pants of the same color underneath, and tugged my long, unruly black hair in awkwardness because- well who wouldn't feel awkward about this?! I practically waltzed right in and made myself home in a palace! What the fucking hell isn't wrong with this?! I saw the four other occupants of the room, the four children of Hakutoku, look at me and Yunan (but mostly Yunan) apprehensively, or at least, the two eldest were, since Hakuei was still confused and Hakuryuu was too young to realize that this could be bad.

Haha…this is not the way I wanted to introduce myself

"Who are you?" At last, someone broke the silence; it was the eldest of the four, a seventeen year old Hakuyuu. I saw him discretely signal Hakuren as the two slowly readied to get their swords, forming a wall between us and their younger siblings.

"Eh? Oh yes! I forgot to introduce ourselves!" Yunan said in surprise "My name is Yunan, and this little child is Shirin," as he said that, he gestured towards me "Were just travelers who wanted to see the Kou empire, we won't take long, I promise," I felt my eye twitch, does anyone ever believe that "Were just passing through, so don't mind us!" bit anymore?

Of course they wouldn't believe it-

"Pretty!"

"Ah! Hakuryuu!"

"What the- **OW!**"

I bit back a curse when the youngest of the group, the little baby Hakuryuu, in the midst of the silent chaos, crawled across the room without anyone noticing, and started to pull my hair in curiously. Seriously, If I wasn't in the presence of an actual kid, I would have sworn in a way that even made sailors embarrassed.

Why is it always the hair?! First Judar, now him?! What the hell is that?!

"Noo! Let go!" I said childishly as the shock and the weight of the baby's body forced me flat down on my stomach as he continued to play with my hair, hey! It really hurts, okay? But my pleads went to deaf ears as the year old baby kept playing with it, I looked around for help, but it seems that everyone was too shocked from what was happening to do anything about it, even Yunan looked a bit confused as to what just happened.

Nana! What are you doing?! Help me!

"Hakuryuu! No, that's impolite!" I sighed in relief when I felt someone take the tiny baby off me after the motherly voice called out. A pair of hands, too feminine to be Yunan's propped me up, and I turned to find the eleven year old face of one Hakuei Ren, looking at me with no apprehension whatsoever, just smiling innocently as she held the tiny boy in her arms as he once again tried to reach for my hair.

"Thank you, miss!" I said with genuine cheerfulness, Yunan always said that we should at least say thank you when we mean it, and I really did mean it.

Hakuei smiled at me, both of us blissfully ignoring the adults in the room, who were still a bit spaced out from what happened. The first of the three to snap out of it was, ironically, the youngest of the three, Hakuren.

"Sister! Get away from them!" Hakuren said, forcing everything back into motion as he and his brother fully drew out their swords and aimed it at Yunan, since they saw him at the biggest threat. But Hakuei just looked at the two of them, confusion clearly seen on her face as she carried the boy in her arms.

"Why? They won't hurt us, I don't think they have the intention to," She said simply, silencing the entire room for a few seconds, and in that few seconds, I realized something.

It's hard to believe that this girl, not even in her pubescent age, would become a king vessel, someone directly chosen by a magi. And while Judar had fallen into depravity when he chose them, I believe had he still had his instincts as a magi and used that to choose, otherwise even the king vessels would have been under Al Themen's influence. The fact that Hakuei had gotten Judar's interest in the first place was proof enough that Hakuei had what it takes to be a king, maybe even more so than Koumei and Kouha at least.

This is proof. Her instincts as a king, this and her sense of justice is what will make her a king vessel in the future.

(What about Hakuryuu then?)

"Hello there, Shirin was it?" I looked back at the child "I'm sorry if my brothers scared you, I'm Hakuei, and this little boy is my baby brother, Hakuryuu, nice to meet you two," She said as she once again held back the tiny child reaching out for my hair "Could I ask what you two are doing here in the first place?" I blinked and looked up at Nanan, who had stayed silent throughout the entire conversation.

"As I said before, me and Shirin here are travelers," Yunan started, crouching down and placing his feminine hand on my head "When we entered the Kou Empire, I wanted to show Shirin the royal palace, I didn't think it was rude to rest inside the building itself, I'm sorry," He said in an apologetic tone, which the two brothers didn't believe for a second, but was enough for Hakuei.

"So it wouldn't be a problem if you two leave immediately, right?" At me and Yunan's simultaneous nods, she smiled again before putting Hakuryuu down and standing up –wait, she was squatting? - giving us another smile, she turned to her two other bewildered brothers.

"Then please, put down your swords, brothers," She asked "You two are much too righteous to fight, and possibly kill, in a child's play room. Are you not?" The two brothers looked displeased by their sister's lack of apprehension towards the intruders, but they sheathed their swords either way, trusting their sister's surprising wisdom. I held back a low whistle, since it could still be seen as a signal of attack.

Wish every older sibling listened to their baby sibling

"Ah! I'm sorry for the misunderstanding!" Yunan said "We'll be going now to prevent any more trouble, okay?" As he said that, he picked up the tiny child as always, wondering why they looked so shocked, even the nice woman

"Good bye, and thank you for the hospitality!" and just like that, he disappeared as fast as he came in, leaving the three other occupants to stutter in shock, before they went full on ballistic.

From the sidelines, I took one look window Nanan disappeared from

And face palmed

_Nanan, you dummy_

* * *

><p>"That was close, that woman was really nice. Don't you think, Ririn?"<p>

"…wa..,"

"Hm? Riri-,"

"WAAAAAH! MOTHER! SISTER! BIG BROTHERS! WAAAAH!"

"WAAAH! YOUR NOT RIRIN!"

"What the- hey you! Unhand him!"

"Eh? EH?!"

"Get everyone to the royal palace! An intruder has kidnapped Young prince Hakuryuu!"

"WAHH! NO! THIS IS A MISUNDERSTANDING! PLEASE LISTEN!"

"WAAAH! MOTHER! SISTER! SAVE ME!"

_Nanan, you dummy_

* * *

><p>It took Yunan the entire day to give the child back. Not only had he forgotten the exact room where he met and accidentally stolen the child, but the guards that were chasing him throughout the palace with their pointy spears did not help one bit. Yunan had forbade himself from harming the soldiers, since they were only doing their job, he would have just given them the child long ago, but to his displeasure, the soldiers were much too busy trying to pierce him with their spears than let him get near enough to give the baby back.<p>

Speaking of the baby, Hakuryuu had gotten tired from all the wailing and crying that he fell asleep in Yunan's arms, only to wake up and cry all over again when the soldiers' cries wake him up. The soldiers, however, saw their young prince's cries as his refusal to be captured and worked twice as hard to get him back. Even the three older siblings were in the chase, well, two, since they didn't allow Hakuei to join since she was too young. And since I was never the tearful type, Yunan had no idea how to calm the little boy.

With all the commotion that happened, it wasn't much of a surprise to find them both back in the child's play room completely exhausted.

"Nanan! Your back!" I said in surprise as I put down the little books they had on the shelves of the play room. What? I was bored okay? They completely forgot about me being there and rushed to save their baby brother. And since I had nothing else to do, I just read some of the children stories. Nanan took a few deep breaths; softly put the sniffling child on the ground…

And started crying louder than the baby

"Ririn! Why didn't you help me!?" He wailed as he rubbed his watery eyes "That as really scary, you know!? I couldn't stop the baby from crying!"

I held back an awkward chuckle as I patted my parent-figure's back, half wondering why our roles were reversed "It's alright, Nanan, the bad people are gone, let's leave before they come back!" I proposed as I took Nanan's hands to cheer him up, as powerful as Nanan really is, even he can get tired from using gravity magic for such a long period of time. If he uses too much…well even he collapses in exhaustion. Best we leave before we become too vulnerable.

Unfortunately, we were a tad bit too late. Something I knew from the Rukh swarming right behind us.

I turned to find the two brothers, Hakuyuu and Hakuren, breathing heavily as if they had chased someone around the entire empire, which they might as well have, with everything that happened. Despite their obvious exhaustion, they held their swords as firmly and proud as they would have if they weren't tired; behind them was the door, further blocked by soldiers. I blinked once before looking out at the balcony in the corner of my eyes, seeing dozens of archers outside, ready to smite me and Nanan should we come close to their sight.

Huh, were trapped…

…God fucking dammit

* * *

><p>"Nanan?"<p>

"Yes, Ririn?"

"Traveling can suck sometimes, can't it?"

"_*sigh*_ Yes, Ririn, yes it can,"

I grumbled when the soldier behind me pointed his spear at my back, pushing me forward lightly. After they inevitably captured us (Yunan couldn't teleport since they already held me captive) they questioned us about our origins. Through we told them exactly what we told everyone else in the world, that we were wandering travelers, many didn't believe us, and what's worse? The ones that actually believed us thought we may be secretly affiliated with some enemy country since we had no records or proof of our origins. So right now, they're gonna take us to the council to make the final decision.

Translation: Their gonna put our lives in the hands of snotty old bastards that are all talk, yammer, and, oh! Surprise! Surprise! More talk.

Were **dead**

"We have brought the convicts, your highness!" The head soldier said, my head shot up, huh? Did he say highness?

Sure enough, on the end of the white carpet was a white and blue throne with Hakuyuu and Hakuren standing beside the man sitting on it. The man had blue hair and a stern face, covered from head to toe in silken white, black, and blue robes and donning a crown similar to one seen in ancient china.

Hakutoku Ren, Emperor and Founder of the Kou Empire

* * *

><p>If I had to talk about every single detail that happened in that court while we were being tried, I would have screamed in mutiny. Cause it was <em>sooo damn long<em>, and it didn't have to be _sooo damn long_ either.

Those stupid council members made us all miss **ten hours of our lives** just because they wanted the chance to flaunt their peacock feathers and act all high and mighty as if they were the wisest men on earth.

God I wanted to kill them, I hate politics

I guess I had to hand it to Emperor Hakutoku, he had to listen to this nonsense the moment he sat on the throne. Even his two eldest sons looked like they wanted to be in a bedroom rather than there, I caught Hakuyuu stifling a yawn once or twice and Hakuren failing to keep himself awake as he achieved the much loved skill of 'sleeping while standing' .

I smiled at this, and here I thought both of them were dedicated soldiers like their father.

I yawned before leaning backwards on Yunan's open chest as he perched his chin on my hair, both of us ignoring the silent chuckle coming from a sleepy soldier nearby as he stared at the sight of parent and child watching old people feel important sleepily. Me and Yunan were at least allowed to sit on the ground, albeit in kneeling position, through Yunan ignored this and sat cross legged, making me sit between his thighs as always. The sight must have seemed very blasphemous for the council members, since they tried making us sit correctly, but was stopped by Hakutoku because there was no use to it as it would only make the session longer.

Thank god for small miracles

To our defense, neither of us really bothered to hear it, were just waiting until the emperor snaps. There are _fifty members_ of the council, twenty from each tribe inside said country, well…fifty nine if you don't include the emperor himself. Each council member talks for _an hour_, and out of the_ fifty nine council members_, only _ten_ had already spoken.

God this is torture, I can't even tell what their saying anymore. Someone, snap already, or so help me, I'm making Nanan teleport us out of here. It's not like we need to be here after all, Nanan is a magi so-

Wait

Nanan's a Magi? But doesn't that mean-!

"Nanan? Do Magi like you have to go through this political business? I thought you said they were exempted?" I asked after I nudged the Magi with my head, waking him up.

"Hmm? Oh Good morning Ririn~ are they done yet?"

"Wha-! Little child, did you say 'Magi'?!"

I blinked a bleary eye at a court official that was at hearing range of our one sided conversation. All at once, the hall was silenced by the man's exclamations; even the old geezer that was talking at the moment was muted in shock. I saw Hakuyuu pause mid yawn before covering it with a cough and, after glancing at his brother only to find that he was asleep on his feet, kicked him discreetly, waking him up with a start. I let out a little giggle at this; through it was muffled by my hands. No amount of strict mannerism lessons can stop a warrior from getting bored from the dullness of the court.

I saw the Emperor raise a brow, as if dully surprised by the sudden silence "Traveler, is what you say true? Are you a 'Magi'? He asked in a commanding tone. Nanan raised at the question, perplexed

"Why yes, I am Yunan, one of the three magi, why do you ask?" I saw the Emperor twitch his eye in irritation, before standing up from his throne, his two surprised sons standing beside him.

He looks irritated

"Then there is no more need of this court meeting, as one as important as a Magi is exempted from all political affairs should their chosen king be unrelated or is not an enemy of the Kou Empire," The man said with the voice of a king, silencing anyone that tried to oppose him. I blinked, the soldiers blinked, the two brothers blinked, and every other servant who knelt for ten hours straight blinked.

_Don't tell me we lost ten hours of our lives for nothing!_ Our simultaneous thoughts echoed. Oh the horror.

"Oh? Is it over? Can we leave now?" Yunan asked, and I just stared at him because god fucking dammit! If he only told them sooner, then we could have gotten out ages ago!

Little did I know that i was gonna curse the hour the meeting came to a conclusion

"But," The Man said when I and Nanan had just gotten up, Yunan's hand placed on my shoulder "Even with the status of a Magi, it is insulting for the man that kidnapped my youngest child to leave with no consequence," I gulped when the man's sharp blue eyes stared down at us "I may not have the authority to impose judgment on a magi, but I do have the authority to impose it on his daughter,"

_…What?_

Maybe it was the drowsiness that was still evident in my system, or maybe it was the shock that came from that king's words, but everything that happened after that was a blur to me. I remember Yunan words of protest as he gripped me closer to him when the soldier that took us here gently separated us. Yunan had made a face that I didn't think would appear on his features and said something to the Emperor that I couldn't quite hear because of the pounding of my own chest and my own mental chanting screaming This is not happening This is not happening This is not happening

_They wanted to separate me from Nanan…?_

* * *

><p>"WAAAH! NANAN! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO!"<p>

"Oi! Let go of each other already!"

"WAAAH! I DON'T WANT TO LET YOU GO EITHER!"

"Gah! The Emperor said it was only for a few months already! Now both of you, stop crying this instant!" Both of us ignored the soldier that was doing his best to pry us off each other, though I have to say, the guy was nice enough to at least put down the spear while doing so.

It would seem as me, Yunan, and pretty much every other person in the court had overreacted to the Emperor's words, or I guess, reacted before he could finish them. Due to my connections with the Magi, I was entitled to be burdened with his punishment for accidentally kidnapping Hakuryuu since they couldn't directly punish him due to his status as a Magi. But at the same time, due to my connections with him, they couldn't do bodily harm at me, lest they encounter the rage of a Magi, the most powerful type of magician.

So their punishment? Keeping me trapped in the Kou Empire for who knows how long. That way, they had a bargaining chip should they require the assistance of another magi, aside from the one brought by Al Themen

**(…Judar…)**

The whole thing seemed rather halfhearted now that I think of it. Since Yunan never really meant to kidnap Hakuryuu, Emperor Hakutoku knew that it was unjust to punish me too much, but under the Council members, he couldn't let us go scott free. So after three months or so, I'm allowed to leave or stay under my own wishes. But Yunan is not allowed to see me until I want to leave.

So now, here we are, crying like a bunch of sappy kids while the soldier acts like the adult.

"Wait…How will I call Nanan when I want to leave though?" I asked the soldier after I took pity on his constant attempts to separate us. The soldier must have been new, since he wasn't as stiff as the ones I see in the manga. At the question, Yunan finally stopped his water works a bit and made a thoughtful face, before snapping his fingers.

"How about this?" Before I could question what 'this' is, Nanan placed the tip of his wand on my forehead and spoke a line. I gasped when I felt an unnatural scratch in my throat, before feeling it dissolve as quickly as it appeared.

"Just say my name with the intention to leave, then I'll be by your side immediately," Yunan said as he crouched at me, before giving me another pat on the head and a kiss on the forehead, knowing that, for the first time for the three years we spent with each other, he wouldn't do it again for a long time.

Only then did I realize how much I treasured those tiny bits of affection

"I-," _I want to go with you_, I was about to say that, but I stopped myself. If I said that, who knows what the magi would do? The Emperor was already being soft on the punishment because I was obviously too young. I don't want to bother anyone because I was spoiled enough to think that just because my parent was a magi, I can ignore politics and their consequences.

I'm mentally an adult, dammit! I'm better than this!

"…I'm gonna miss you, Nana," I said quietly, soft enough so that the only one who could hear it in this spare room was the person who put up with me for three of the four years of my life. I felt Nanan embrace me gently, ruffling my messy hair.

"I will too, Riri," He said quietly, a sad smile masking most of his emotions, before standing up and taking a step away from me and the soldier so that he was behind the large window on the end of the empty room.

"It won't be long, I promise," Nanan said, the Rukh fluttering between us reassuringly, whispering to me and me only how **_"It's true," "He wouldn't leave you," "You're his precious daughter after all," "So don't cry, okay?"_** and I wanted so much to believe that.

"After this, let's continue our little travels, okay?" He said, before smiling at me for one last time as the Rukh around him swirl around, enveloping him in its warm embrace before flicking off into existence. I bit my lip as I stared at the empty space that once held my parent, before grudgingly allowing the soldier in the room to lead me back to the throne room, thus begins the days in the White Palace of the Kou Empire. It's only for three months anyways.

Right, only three months…

* * *

><p>"Ah, if it isn't Shirin,"<p>

"Huh? Oh! Hey there, little Shi! Watcha doin' here?"

"Hakuren! Speak properly!"

"Yuu! Ren! Where's Uei and Ryuu? I bored!"

"And you! What did I tell you about honorifics? Have you learned nothing?"

"Face it, brother Yuu; she won't be cracking up 'sirs' and 'miss' anytime soon,"

"Hellooo? Uei and Ryuu? Can you just tell me where they are?"

"They should be in the child's play room," An eighteen year old Hakuyuu answered after he finally put down the book he was reading, his brother sitting idly across him, obviously itching for a sparring match as he rocked his chair back and forth dangerously. I giggled when I saw Hakuyuu, the smart and stern brother with the face of the father, discreetly topple the chair with a soft push of his foot, sending his younger, and arguably hardier, brother toppling on the floor when he leaned back.

"That's what you get for playing with expensive furniture," I said in a smart assed tone, earning a mild glare from the younger brother before hauling himself up and giving his brother an 'I-know-you-did-it' look as said brother continued to ignore him by reading once more. The brother sighed before rubbing the back of his head and looking back at my smiling face, if I was my past life, I would have worried about a concussion, but the me of today knew exactly how hard the heads of warriors in this world are. So I don't need to worry.

"You know, for a five year old, you sure a spunky," he said, but before I could retort, I felt something heavy land on my hair and started ruffling it

"Oi! Not the hair!" I said in annoyance as the younger brother ruffled my hair while laughing, from the corner of my eye, I saw Hakuyuu look at the scene with a smile that clearly wished that days like these would go on forever.

To my regret, I found myself wishing the same thing

Three months have come and left, as fleeting as the wind so to say. In those three months, everyone treated me as if I were a princess of high standing myself, mostly because, as a magi's daughter, they wanted to get into my good graces, it was really annoying at first, since their intentions were just plain obvious that it irritated me too much to even think about it, I found myself counting the days until I could leave this hell hole of silken cloth,

But things got better by the second month

How?

I befriended the Haku siblings…well more like they befriended me

It all started with me walking around idly as always, having shaken off the servant that they pinned on me, I was finding something to do when I heard a cry of a baby and found Hakuei and her servants trying to stop a baby Hakuryuu from crying. I honestly didn't like the sound of baby cries in the morning, so I went up to Hakuei and Hakuryuu for the first time since I started living here and asked if I could get a chance to stop the kid from crying.

Needless to say, the faces of the servants at the proposal were disturbing

Even Hakuei was a little reluctant to give her little brother to me, no doubt traumatized by seeing my parent figure whisk him away (accidentally) because she had let go of the child. Fortunately in the end, she handed Hakuryuu to me, and using what I was taught in my past life about taking care of babies, I was successfully able to put him back to sleep

(I was sooo not basking at the flabbergasted faces of the servants, serves them right)

Hakuei was really grateful for that, the next day, she picked me out of my troubling circle of (*cough*annoying*cough*) servants and offered to play with her and Hakuryuu, which was really awkward at first because just a few days ago, we were practically strangers living under the same roof, but due to the simple, innocent minds of actual kids (I'm technically a kid as well…but…) everything went on smoothly in the end.

That was basically the start of my friendship with the younger Haku siblings. My friendships with the two older siblings came right after that. It was inevitable really, ever since I befriended Hakuei, I tailed her like a duckling would with her mother goose, partly because I was dead bored and because I was interested in the first King Vessel Aladdin met.

But mostly because I was bored

To my eternal shock, the two older siblings held no hesitance in befriending me, unlike their younger sister. Turns out they understood that it was all just a huge misunderstanding and kinda pitied me for taking the blow for it. I secretly got angry about this, I didn't like being pitied, but I guess the curiosity of meeting the Haku siblings' older brothers quelled that anger somewhat.

Hakuren was just as portrayed and descripted in the manga, loud, war-loving, and very much protective over family, though they never showed his love for pranks, and not just your average pranks either. One time I saw one of Hakuyuu's other advisors shivering in fear and screaming bloody murder after he got thrown in with a necklace of meat in a pit of hungry lions with nothing but a tiny cage to keep them away when Hakuren overheard him insult their father indirectly. And that's just a mild example for the blood craving side of this guy.

Hah, you can take the warrior from the war, but not the war from the warrior

Hakuyuu, in the outside, was also similar in description, stern, wise, and cool headed. But it never showed the side that would give teasing remarks to Hakuren or even the side that would sit all day in the child's play room hiding while helping Hakuei in her sewing, something he was really good at, to his embarrassment. My favorite side of him was his teaching side, one created when Hakuren was of learning age. After we became familiar to each other, Hakuyuu often taught me random things, from astronomy to the dates in the calendar, depending on the time of day. Through I find it funny that he often tries, and fails to do so, to instill manners in me at a young age.

The manga never showed these sides of them

(Humans…really are too complex to be put into paper)

After I befriended the four siblings, the days seemed shorter, with me spending my day playing with the four and finding myself to wonder what other adventures I could have with them. Just think of how shocked I was to find out that three months had already come and past and that I spent half a year in this place instead.

Time flew by so fast…

(How's Nanan? Is he worried that something happened to me?)

"Ah! Now that I think about it," I blinked when Hakuren suddenly spoke "Didn't mother say that she'd be taking care of baby Ryuu since little Uei was being taught flower arrangement today?"

I stiffened at the mention of their mother, right, the bitch is here. After I met her the first time when I came to the courtyard only to find her there instead of Hakuei, I was totally ready to scream and run for my life. After all, not only was she like, the bitchiest villain I have ever seen in this genre of manga, but at the moment, she held Judar in her custody, I feared that she would somehow connect the black haired daughter of a magi to their capture magi.

Fortunately, the earring Yui had thrown to me was doing its work splendidly, the lack of anything special in my Rukh made me almost unnoticeable. Even Yunan couldn't see through the earring's effects.

Not that I wanted to take my chances though, ever since then, I high tailed my ass away the moment I see that artificial face a mile away.

"You've got it wrong, brother;" Hakuyuu said from his seat "That is scheduled for tomorrow, today, the courtyard is off limits,"

"Hah?!" I blanched "Why?!" Who the hell would close a courtyard?

The answer I got shocked me

"It would seem as they wish to train the magi of Al Themen there for the day,"

?!

Al Themen's Magi…Judar?!

Judar's here!

"Huh, the magi hu- Shirin?!" I couldn't think, I found myself ripping away from Hakuren and running out the room, to the courtyard that we would go to everyday. Is it true? _Is he here? **Is my little brother really here?**_

Is he still the baby brother I once knew?

* * *

><p>The answer was no…<p>

**hE's CoMpLeTelY dIfFeReNt**

I thought as I watched the dolls of Al Themen teach him the basics of magic as I hid behind a pillar and concentrated on making my Rukh as inconspicuous as possible, which I felt that I didn't really need to, since the earing Yui gave me didn't stop it from feeling exactly similar to Judar's Rukh, which allowed me to mask my presence.

Our shared signatures are the only things that forced me into realizing that** this child is my brother**

No wonder that monster of a mother didn't connect the two of us at first, even with our signatures still being the same, it was almost completely overridden by the amount of black Rukh that child possessed. Even then, you couldn't quite tell were similar aside from hair and eye color. Unlike me, who, despite being on the (extremely) pale side and the long unruly hair (that I don't want them to touch, mind you) looked completely healthy due to the care of Nanan and the nearby village of Toran, Judar looked…really bad actually. He wasn't malnourished, nor did h look like he was inflicted with any physical harm, but…

He looks…tired? No…how do you describe it? For a four year old, he had such dead eyes, but in the same time, it was filled with something I couldn't quite fathom. His hair looked a bit shorter than mine, I can't tell since it was already braided. And he wore such heavy looking clothing that it was almost painful to watch the four year old constantly having to use gravity magic to keep himself straight.

Oh, and the amount of black Rukh surrounding him was a bit unnerving too…

Is this Judar? He's so much different from the kid I would sing lullabies to, or even the guy from, the _manga itself_! This must have been before Judar started disobeying Al Themen's orders somewhat, since the kid here was obviously tailing the members like the kid he was and following their words to the heart.

It's rather terrifying really…time really does change people

Is there no way to save him?

_No…_I thought as I watched Judar collapse in exhaustion, a member picking him up and heading back to who knows where _there's no reversing this change, a crumpled paper can never be returned to its creaseless state after all…_

**_But isn't he my brother now? Or does falling into depravity mean I can cut my ties with the black magi?_ **

_**Am I gonna abandon him again?**_

_Hah. Fuck no, I'm following them_

Well… I'm bored anyways, might as well see how this 'little brother' is doing…

I guess this is one of the times I could say I was blessed to have a small body again, since trailing the member carrying Judar (Why hadn't they just teleported? Does it have something to do with being in the White Palace instead of who-knows-where-their-hideout-is?) was absurdly easy, though I guess the reason was because…well…Rukh merged after all…you get the point.

(Now that I think of it, was that what that voice meant by not being a magician? Is my powers as a magician…given by Judar?)

So after a few seconds of trailing him like the awesome ninja I am (Seriously? I'm sneaking behind a thing that could kill me with a flick of his wand, how am I still _joking around_?) I saw him enter a room and, after a few seconds of me hiding in a corner, left to who knows where.

Without Judar

I grinned

_Jackpot_

Careful not to alert anyone that might still be there, I silently crept into Judar's room, which was pretty easy since it was before the creation of that blasted squeaky doors.

It was a spacious room, which, unlike the other rooms in the palace, was painted dark purple and had little to no lighting. The only furniture here aside from the king sized bed with four bedposts on each side was a large closet holding what I could guess were the clothes assigned to him. On the end of the room was a balcony, the only source of light here, and even that was covered with dark heavy drapes that almost made it seem like it's purpose was to reject the light of the outside world completely.

God, I hate this place already I thought as I reluctantly entered the room, as I had already come this far It's just so…so…

Isolating and lonely here

"…Ugh…," I jumped when I heard a soft moan coming from the spacious bed, I gulped, the hell? Is he awake? But a second passed, and another, and another. After the tenth' sound, I let out a small huff of relief. God, that was scary.

What was that anyways? I dared myself to peer closer to the body unceremoniously tucked in the heavy sheets, the member didn't even think of removing those god forsaken clothes dammit! No wonder he was groaning in his sleep! He could barely breathe!

I grumbled as my mother hen instincts came up, trying not to make too much sounds, I got onto Judar's bed so that I could get that freakin' piece of clothing off him, leaving him in his under garments, a white kimono. Immediately afterwards, he started breathing normally again, though he was still groaning in his sleep, as if he was having a nightmare.

…Do they do this to him…everyday?

"That's actually…sad" I muttered before throwing the outer garment out of the bed in frustration. God, they were heavy, how could they make him wear this? I was a year older than him and even I admitted that they were an ass to wear.

Is it because I let them get Judar?

_Stop it!_ I thought as I shook my head _I didn't let them take him! I couldn't do anything! It's not my fault! It's not my fault! **It's their fault! Their fault! THEIR FAULT! **_In my denial, I failed to notice the Rukh surrounding me try to comfort me with their soothing words. But I couldn't hear them in the face of my hysteria

Until I was stopped by a single memory

**"Going all loco won't do you any good, brat,"**

…R-Right, Yui said- Yui said that, right?! I completely forgot about that time, why did I remember it only now?

…Doesn't matter, what matters is that I have to cool my head now. I might wake Judar up with all my hysteria, which seems pretty easy with all the tossing and turning he's doing from his 'nightmares'

(Or is it another consequence of falling into depravity?)

"..Huh? What the hell?" I couldn't stop it from escaping my lips when I saw something glint on Judar's left ear when he turned to his side. It was a single earring, the same kind that was hanging on my right ear.

**It was Sakaya's earring**

"What the hell is it doing here?!" I bit back my frustration as memories of a sickly yet much loved woman threatened to spill into my mind. He did not have a single earring in the manga, and he was never shown having them in his flashbacks. So what changed? Why does he have it now? Did I do something? Or is it just one of the little differences that appear in parallel universes like in my theory?

Not that it didn't help relieve some stress in me just looking at it on my little brother…

"Nghh," My thoughts were once again derailed at the sound of a small child groaning in his sleep, any form of hysteria deflated in me as I stared at the almost pitiful state of Judar, I'll think about whose fault it is later, right now…

Right now he needs sleep, doesn't he?

I sighed before crawling nearer to the child and, in a sentimental act of affection, carefully put his head on my lap and my arms hugging him slightly, just like how I would when we were just babies.

And sang

_"Lacrimosa dies illa,"_

_"Qua resurget ex favilla,"_

_"Judicandus homo reus,"_

_"Huic ergo parce Deus,"_

_"Pie Jesu Domine,"_

I let a smile grace my lips when I felt the child immediately relax in my arms, yes, I was stupid to think that a little black Rukh would stop this child from being my blood brother, half or not.

(Due to my thoughts, I didn't notice the amount of white Rukh surrounding us increasing slowly)

_"Judicandus homo reus,"_

_"Huic ergo parce Deus,"_

_"Pie Jesu Domine,"_

"…hah," I gasped a bit, it's been a while since I sang that, I can't believe I still remember it word by word. I guess there are some things you just can't forget.

Good thing I didn't forget it though I thought while I cradled the peacefully sleeping Judar in my arms, I didn't realize how much I missed this kind of thing…

If only it could last longer

_**"Run!" "Al Themen!"**_

The voices said only milliseconds before I felt their presence

**_God, no! Not now! Not when I just got to Judar!_**

_Never mind that! I have to run!_ Ignoring the ache in my chest, I pushed Judar off my lap, leaped off the bed, and ran to the balcony, since the presences I felt were on the door I entered. For a second, I was conflicted whether to get Judar and leave with him, but a selfish voice in my head told me that _it's useless, they would just search for you, and you had no chance to retrieve him._

Gah, shut up already! I'm palpitating here!

Going outside the balcony, I was hoping to find a tree or something of the sorts so that I could climb down

There wasn't

Mother. Fucking. Hell. I. Am. So. **Dead_…Again_**

"Of all the Motherfucking times!" I cursed and snarled at myself. I'm trapped! I don't want to get under their gazes! I got to get out of here!

But How?!

**"Just say my name with the intention to leave. Then I'll be by your side immediately,"**

…wait! That's it!

"Yunan!" I called out in panic, feeling the magic casted on my throat activate; the black Rukh was coming closer! God fucking dammit! Stay calm, Shirin! _Inhale- Gah!_ Whatever! Just get me out of here!

**_I don't want to end up like Judar_**

I felt arms wrap around me before I recognized the voice

"Riri!" I saw the overjoyed look on Yunan's face, happy to finally get to see his daughter. But even that face was quickly shadowed once he saw my face and felt the Black Rukh come closer to this room. Before I could even utter an:_ oh my god! Nanan! Get us out of here!_ Nanan had already grabbed me by the waist and waved his staff, sending a flurry of White Rukh to surround us and take us to wherever he wants to go. A frown on his face

Just before we left, however, the thick curtains rustled slightly, as if someone was trying to pull it away from their path. Neither me nor Nanan were there anymore when the curtains froze and broke into crystallites, revealing a woman who looked at the scene in suspicion before turning to their captured magi standing beside her confusingly with a fake smile. For the child's Rukh had once again been enveloped with that blinding white that she had so detested.

As for the child, he could only wonder why he found himself out of that suffocating robe while lying on the ground, and why the members of Al Themen looked displeased by the sudden increase of the White Rukh around him.

However…what is currently in his mind was that eerie song he heard in his sleep…

Why…does he feel like he's heard it before…?

* * *

><p>"That…was not how I imagined our reunion to be, Ririn,"<p>

"It's not like I wanted to get chased around by a bunch of Black Rukh surrounded weirdoes, Nanan,"

"Haha…that sarcasm of yours hasn't changed a bit,"

"…Sorry, I guess I'm still a bit winded up from what happened," I said in Yunan's arms. To which Yunan only smiled slightly as we flew through the ocean that we teleported to.

"Do you think you can tell Nanan about it?" Yunan said in a placate tone, but even with half a year of not being together, I was clearly able to hear the sheer curiosity beneath it. I grimaced, what the hell do I tell him?

_Actually, that kid is my little half-brother that was taken by Al Themen! Oh? How do I know this? It's because I know the future from reading a manga when I was still a college student in an alternate universe~!_

No Fucking hell am I saying that. The past will stay in the fucking past

(…gah, I really have to stop this swearing habit of mine, it's seriously getting unhealthy)

But I have to say something, this is Nanan here, he deserves that much…

"That boy in the room," I started, earning the curious look of Yunan "Yuu and Ren said that he was magi like Nanan…so I was curious…,"

_Sorry_

"The kid looked a lot like me too, so I watched him train with Al Themen, I never saw anyone with the same eyes as me before," That would have been true, If I knew what I looked like that is. There weren't any mirrors in Yunan's place, and I never really bothered to see my face, so I really didn't know if what I was saying had a shred of truth anymore.

_I'm sorry for lying_

"I followed him all the way to his bedroom- that's where you found me- when those freaks noticed my presence," I said, that part, at least, had a ring of truth "I freaked out and called for you, sorry," I felt Yunan pat me on the head, reassuring me that he wasn't upset or anything.

_But there's one thing I can tell you_

"But there was one thing that bothered me, actually," I said, uncertain if I should continue, but decided to press on, because in the end, it was gonna get out anyways. There's no use hiding it really. Besides, Nanan can keep a secret.

_Because you're my precious Nanan, I'll at least give you a hint_

"Why did his white Rukh feel exactly like mine?"

"…,"

"Nanan?"

"…Is that true?" Yunan said, his eyes calculating for a while before shrugging, something I really hadn't seen him do "I see, it makes perfect sense now," I blinked…what? That was not how I expected him to react.

"Ne, Ririn? You were only one year old when I found you, right?" at the confused nod of my head, he pressed on "You once told me that you couldn't remember much about your past, only that 'black birds' destroyed it," I held back a wince, right, I forgot that I didn't tell the full truth to Nanan. One year olds don't usually remember things in such detail after all.

"Did you know?" Yunan began "On the night I found you, I felt a sudden burst of Rukh connecting a village to the very place I found you? I didn't think anyone in the Kou Empire was adept in space and time magic, let alone use it on a person without the caster," I stared at him, what? Was that the reason why Nanan was there? Because he was curious about the teleportation?

"…So your saying…," I said slowly, pretending to seem confused "I'm from the Kou Empire?" At this, Yunan patted my head, a sign of approval concerning my way of thinking.

"Mhhm," He hummed "But that's not all, if what you said was true, then you and that boy are closer than you think, maybe even siblings," even at the sight of land reaching our vision, he continued "That would explain the influx of Rukh that momentarily appeared in the Kou Empire a year ago, after all, the first blood sibling of a magi in history must have some sort of destiny in store for her," Eh? Wait, I'm the first blood sibling of a magi? I didn't know that! Huh, I just thought it was coincidental really. How come the magi is born as a single child? Couldn't the parents get another child?

(…or does something happen to the parents too?)

"It would also explain your powers,"

"Huh? I thought I'm a magician like Nanan!" I protested. What? Just because I'm the sister of a magi means I automatically can't use magic? The hell is that? But instead of answering, Nanan merely shook his head with a hum, still striding through the air as the land got closer, it was an island between two large pieces of land. My eyes widened when I noticed the large vertical building nestled in said island, as well as the army situated on the foot of the island.

What the- This scene!

**_It's happening already?_**

"Nanan!" I said, pointing at the tower, hoping that my guess was wrong; their appearance was like, when? 16? 14? Years ago? What are the chances that I'd escape just when this scene was happening? "What's that?"

Yunan blinked at the tower for a second and smiled down at me "You didn't think your Nanan would just sit around and wait for half a year, would you?" I winced, gah, now I feel all guilty "It's called a dungeon, all you need to know is that, in it, is a power that can rule over all,"

_The power of a Djinn_

"Let's go up and see what's happening, shall we?" Without a moment's notice, he flew faster to the island, until we were hovering right above it. Just in time to hear the opening speech of the general. My eyes narrowed.

Why is he changing the subject?

My thoughts drifted off when, for the first time, I heard the words I read being spoken for real

"Gentlemen," The commander said from the top of the hill, my head snapped towards him as I heard him speak the lines I never thought would leave the manga "As a soldier, do you know what the most fearsome thing is?"

_Oh God_

"Is it failure in a mission? Is it flinching in front of enemies? Is it getting defeated?"

_It's really happening, isn't it?_

"NO! No sir! None of those!" The general said, his voice rising to a shout "It's losing the pride of the Partevian soldier! To forget who you are, to lose your pride, that's a soldier's greatest fear!"

"Don't flinch! Don't step back! Cast your life away! That's the pride of Partevian soldiers!"

"ADVANCE!"

From above, I could see the determined faces of the army as they shout their battle cry, rushing into the dungeon with grim and determined faces. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the look Nanan had on his face at the sight.

None of them will make it out alive.

* * *

><p>"Nanan? Is it alright to sit in this barrel?"<p>

"Of course! We've done it before! What makes this time different?"

"W-Well _*sigh*_ Never mind," I grumbled when Yunan had somehow fitted both of us in a barrel without having to remove any of the fruits, was it just that the barrel was big of I was just tiny? Meh, it doesn't matter, at least it blocks out the sun.

It's been a few days since we saw the army enter the dungeon, and never coming back. Yunan and I decided to continue our little world travel by going to Partevia, since we hadn't went there yet. On the way though, the sun got a little too hot for both of us, so we decided to hitch a ride on this caravan that was traveling to said Empire. Like always, Nanan enters the nearest barrel there, which was a barrel of fruits, without the owners of the caravan knowing.

This was just like the manga

I curled my fists and bit my lip. You know? Despite the fact that I was being raised by someone I had thought was fictional, I never really connected this life with the events of magi. The only time I did was when I was uselessly thinking of a plan to protect my family from dying like in the series. Some help that did.

But now? It only just occurred to me that the events wouldn't stop just because I ignored them.

The problem was…what do I do now?

I told myself that I wanted nothing to do with the events of magi. I really was satisfied with living with Nanan for the rest of my life. It's not like I wanted to change much of the plot line anyways. Of course, there were parts were I wished something else happened, like the death of Dunya or the capture of Judar. But all the rest? As much as I hated to admit it, it's all needed. My mere presence would just get in the way of the things that really needed to happen.

I was just an extra in this play

Aren't I?

"…Ne? Ririn? How was your stay in the empire?" I blinked and looked up at Nanan, which was hard since the barrel was small.

"…It was really boring at first. Everyone tried sucking up to me cause you were my Nanan," I said, expecting the magi to reprimand me for cussing, but to my shock, he just hummed with a smile

"Then it got better when the emperor's kids – the guys we saw in the child's play room- decided to play with me, I kinda lost track of time after that," I continued, still eyeing the magi, even with the darkness of the barrel, I could see Yunan's relaxed face, his eyes closed as his smile seemed to be more calming than anything while holding me in his arms, it was like he was in a trance.

"…Nanan? Are you okay?" I asked after a few seconds of silence, jerking the magi awake, I grimaced, what was that all about?

"Hmm? Oh! Sorry," Nanan said to me "I guess it's been a while since we did this sort of thing, I have to say that I missed having someone with me my travels," I winced, right, while I was goofing off in the Kou empire, he was probably waiting patiently for that third month, only to find that I didn't want to go back to him yet. I shouldn't have forgotten Nanan like that.

Waah, now I feel guilty

"Sor- Wha!?" I yelped when the caravan we were in stopped abruptly, almost ending me crashing to the wooden ball of the barrel, had Nan not been holding me at the time.

"What the fucking hell?!"

"Ririn! How many time s do I have to tell you?! Language!"

Huh, guess nostalgia can only hide so much

"Gah, never mind that! What's happening out there?" I asked myself before getting the courage to peek out of our safe sanctuary of barrel wood and nice smelling fruits

Only to flop it back down with a crash

"Shit! The caravan got ambushed!" I informed my Nanan, who only blinked at my panic. Normally, people would understand if I was irritated by it, since it was like he really didn't think it was all that bad. But for a magi, it really wasn't. Heck, when I got captured by slave trader in Balbadd, I wasn't all that scared either, cause I knew that Nanan would save me.

(Though I was terrified beyond my wits when I saw Nanan obliterate the base, god that was creepy…)

But this is different. I'm not panicking because_ I thought we were in danger_, I'm panicking because _I knew what was gonna happen next._

Oh god, is this really?

My answer came in three different ways

First: The shrilly cries of men being sucker punched was heard, followed by the voices of women and a boy

Second: Said voices started getting louder, as if they were getting closer to our barrel. One of the voices even said something about 'prized fruits'

And third?

The barrel lid opened, leading the two of us to stare straight at the four other people, one of them being a fourteen year old boy who had an odd shade of hair

Purple

And only one person had purple hair in the series

Sinbad the sailor – or as he is called in the future – the king of Sindria

And so begins the events of 'The Adventures of Sinbad'

…

…

…

…God, fucking dammit, why the hell does this happen to me?

* * *

><p><strong>+16,000 words, oh my god T-T<strong>

**First, Did you guys like it? I hope to get more review out of you, since very few people reviewed the last chapter.**

**About Shirin's magician problem – Technically speaking, Shirin was not born as a magician, I believe magicians are born by blood, save for the magi. However, in the previous chapter, you find that Judar had 'merged' Rukh with her. Basically, Shirin could use magic, but she's not a magician, as her magic is merely due to Judar. That's what Yunan meant about her not being a magician. **

**Artificial magicians are different from her, however. In my opinion, the process of becoming an artificial magician has something to do with activating the power within by force, like how magi in Fate/Stay Night activate their magic circuits. Shirin never activated hers, though she will use her magoi, she is not the one who actually owns it. So she's technically classified as non-magician, through others will…well…say otherwise**

**Speaking of which, that scene where she sings a lullaby to Judar and the white Rukh increase? It's not the song, mind you. Due to Judar falling into depravity, most of his white Rukh fled to Shirin, who he merged with, just being in close proximity will encourage the Rukh to leach on to Judar again. Though the song itself serves as a calming effect, since it doesn't matter how much the White Rukh would want to go back to Judar if his body is rejecting it too much.**

**If anyone has complains about the characters, please tell me, not if it's Judar though. As a kid, he didn't seem as…talkative? He looked withdrawn and silent really (still snobbish though) this was also before he started going against Al Themen's orders a bit due to (most likely) puberty**

**I personally didn't like many parts of this chapter, but for the heck of me, I just couldn't think of any other was to get around it.**

**Please review guys! Really, review**


End file.
